Low Surface Brightness Galaxies as Probes of Dark
Matter
Dr.
Rachel Kuzio de Naray
Royal Military College of Canada
September 18, 2012
3:30 - 4:30am
Room 218 NSC
Abstract
Dark matter plays an important role in our current
understanding of the universe. Low surface brightness (LSB)
galaxies exhibit large mass discrepancies down to small
radii, making them excellent laboratories for probing the
dark matter distribution and placing constraints on
theoretical models. I will discuss how observational
techniques have evolved to address a long-standing
disagreement between observational results and theoretical
predictions. I will present recent high-resolution Halpha
Integral Field Unit (IFU) velocity field data for a sample
of LSB galaxies. I will also discuss how mock IFU
observations of N-body/SPH galaxy simulations can be used to
investigate the limitations of the kinematic data and the
IFU observational approach. Finally, I will discuss if
baryonic processes could be responsible for modifying the
dark matter halos of LSB galaxies.