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Ninety-six percent of the energy density of the universe is of a form unknown to the Standard Model of particle physics. We divide this unknown into two camps: dark matter, which likely consists of at least one family of exotic particles; and dark energy, which is just a name we give to the observed accelerated expansion of the universe.
Without exaggeration, dark energy is one of the most profound and essential mysteries in modern cosmology.
There are many ways to tackle the dark energy problem. Future observational missions, such as the Dark Energy Survey, will begin to provide a large enough data set to rigorously constrain dark energy. However, these observations will be hampered by systematic uncertainties in the measurements of clusters of galaxies. We must understand the astrophysics of clusters, especially the vital role that magnetic fields play, in order to effectively study dark energy.
I use large-scale simulations to study the origin and evolution of magnetic fields in clusters in galaxies. I use these simulations to understand the dynamical importance of these fields throughout cosmic time. This is a crucial first step in constraining cluster measurements for future dark energy probes.
Sutter, P.M. and Ricker, P.M. "Examining subgrid models of supermassive black holes in cosmological simulation" Astrophys. J. (submitted).
Sutter, P.M., Ricker, P.M. and Yang, H.-Y. "Cluster magnetic fields from active galactic nuclei" to appear in proceedings of the conference "The Monster's Fiery Breath: Feedback in Galaxies, Groups, and Clusters", June 2009, Madison, Wisconsin
Yang, H.-Y., Ricker, P.M., and Sutter, P.M. "The Influence of AGN feedback on galaxy cluster observables" to appear in proceedings of the conference "The Monster's Fiery Breath: Feedback in Galaxies, Groups, and Clusters", June 2009, Madison, Wisconsin
Yang, H.-Y., Ricker, P.M., and Sutter, P.M. "The Influence of concentration and dynamical state on scatter in the galaxy cluster mass-temperature relation" Astrophys. J. (Submitted).
Sutter, P.M. and Ricker, P.M. "Detecting dark matter-dark energy coupling with the halo mass function" Astrophys. J. 687, 7 (2008).
Sutter, P.M. and Ricker, P.M. "Structure and evolution of Zel'dovich pancakes as probes of dark energy models" Astrophys. J. 674, 1 (2008).
Sutter, P.M. and Tanaka, T. "Vacuum energy density for massless scalar fields in flat homogeneous spacetime manifolds with nontrivial topology" Phys. Rev. D 74, 024023 (2006).
Calvet, N., et al. "Disks in transition in the Taurus population: Spitzer IRS Spectra of GM Aur and DM Tau" Astrophys. J. 630, L185-L188 (2005).
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