Demos
Here are some interactive demos which explain aspects of my research.
When a massive object sits between us and a distant source, its gravity bends the light into arcs and rings. Because the bending depends only on the mass of the lens and geometry, it is one of the cleanest ways to map dark matter.
Load your own source image by pasting (Ctrl+V / Cmd+V) or dragging an image onto the left panel, or choose one of the presets. Click/drag in the right panel to move the lens. For a much more complete lensing simulator, Launch Caustica →
Dark Matter (DM) is the invisible but dominant mass component in the structures of our universe, with approximately 10 times more dark matter in our galaxy than matter we could see. The interaction properties of dark matter with itself remain largely a mystery, but looking at brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), which sit in the centers of galaxy clusters, we can get some insights into these mysterious properties. Below is a simplified model of a BCG oscillating in the potential of a galaxy cluster, and how the typical distance from the cluster center changes with different dark matter self-interaction properties.