Dynamics Initiative
The TAP Dynamics Initiative brings together dynamicists to tackle fundamental problems in dynamics across a vast range of physical scales, from the motions of dark matter particles in galactic halos, to the dynamics of planetary and stellar bodies, all the way to galactic collisions.
BESLA RESEARCH GROUP
We study galactic dynamics using high-resolution simulations, analytic models, and high-precision astrometric data, with a particular focus on the dynamics of galaxies in our Local Group and low mass galaxies across cosmic time.
Group members:
Gurtina Besla (Faculty, AST)
Katherine Chamberlain (Graduate Student, AST)
Hayden Foote (Graduate Student, AST)
Himansh Rathore (Graduate Student, AST)
Research images:
DANIEL RESEARCH GROUP
Our group studies the dynamics of galaxies, from orbits to the nature and evolution of major morphological structures, such as spiral arms and bars. Our research includes questions about the interplay between these components, how resonances evolve galaxy morphologies and population distributions, and chrono-chemo-dynamic signatures that can reveal the dynamical history of the Milky Way.
Group members:
Kate Daniel (Faculty, AST)
Leandro Beraldo e Silva (Postdoctoral Scholar, AST)
Amy Smock (Graduate Student, AST)
Sóley Hyman (Graduate Student, AST)
KRATTER RESEARCH GROUP
We study the dynamics of binary stars and their planets, using their orbital properties to constrain formation and evolution models. Our group also works on protostellar and protoplanetary disk dynamics, including interactions with companions across the mass spectrum.
Group members:
Kaitlin Kratter (Faculty, AST)
Leo Krapp (Postdoctoral Fellow, AST)
Juan Garrido-Deutelmoser (Research Assistant, AST)
Jackson Zariski (Graduate Student, Applied Math)
MALHOTRA RESEARCH GROUP
We seek to discover the past and future of planetary systems – the diverse effects of gravity that shape where and how planets form and how their orbits evolve in time, how dynamical transport processes of planetary materials operate across vast distances in space and over geologically long times, and how orbital dynamics shapes terrestrial and extra-terrestrial environments.
Group members:
Renu Malhotra (Faculty, LPL)
Jose Daniel Castro-Cisneros (Graduate Student, PHY)
Ian Matheson (Graduate Student, AME)
Recent animations:
Opportunities to Engage
TAP Dynamics Lecture
Monica Valluri, University of Michigan
The Dynamics Initiative will host Monica Valluri, May 14-25, 2024. See visitor schedule for meetings and visit details, or contact the host Gurtina Besla. See more information below.
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Monica Valluri is a Research Professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Her work relies on theoretical framework of Galactic Dynamics to explore two profoundly mysterious unseen components of galaxies: central supermassive black holes and dark matter halos. She interprets and models the properties of galaxies using the motions of stars observed with state-of-the-art telescopes using simulations as well as powerful numerical analysis methods. She got a BS/MS in Physics, at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani India and a PhD in Astrophysics at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. She did postdoctoral work at Columbia University and Rutgers University. She was a Senior Research Associate and Assistant Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago before moving to Michigan in 2007.
Monica Valluri will be available May 15-24, 2024, to participate in research group meetings, join talks, and to meet with students.
TAP Dynamics Lectureship Welcomes Monica Valluri
Some New Ways to Probe the Nature of Dark Matter with Tidal Streams
Abstract: Lambda CDM predicts that dark matter halos are moderately triaxial and are not static but tumble slowly and coherently out to 60% of the virial radius. The tumbling rate (pattern speed) inferred from cosmological simulations is so small (15-40 degrees/Gyr) that it has been assumed to have negligible effects on baryons. We recently showed that the torque from even a slowly tumbling halo can significantly perturb tidal streams in the Milky Way. We also showed, from the first analysis of figure rotation in cosmological simulations with baryons, that the prevalence and magnitude of figure rotation is one of the only predictions of Lambda CDM on scales of galaxies that is relatively unaffected by the presence of baryons. The standard method of measuring figure rotation in simulations uses a quantity called the shape tensor which is extremely sensitive to the presence of sub-halos and satellites. Although the Milky Way is one of the best places to attempt to measure figure rotation, the fact that it is currently being perturbed by a massive companion like the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has led us to develop a new method based on Basis Function Expansions (BFEs). This method can not only measure the pattern speeds and rotation axes of halos but can help to determine why halos have figure rotation. I will also describe a new probe of the cusp/core issue in dwarf galaxies that uses the structure of tidal streams from accreted globular clusters. Finally, I will briefly describe some recent results on the GD-1 tidal stream obtained with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument.
TAP Dynamics Lecture
Some New Ways to Probe the Nature of Dark Matter with Tidal Streams
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
10:30 AM MST
Steward Observatory, Room N305
Refreshments at 10:00 AM MST
More information: Lecturer’s Schedule