Speaker
María Benito
(Tartu observatory, University of Tartu)
Description
Detecting dark (matter) subhalos on sub-galactic scales could offer critical insights into the nature of DM, given the limited observational constraints on the low-mass end of the subhalo mass function. In this talk, we will explore a novel method for finding dark subhalos by detecting stellar wakes —perturbations in the positions and velocities of stars caused by interactions with orbiting dark subhalos. We will discuss the feasibility of using supervised and unsupervised Machine Learning techniques to detect these stellar wakes, given the tremendous increase in high-precision data from current and future astronomical surveys.