HET Seminar | Evolution of Self-Interacting Dark Matter Halos

Abstract: Large self interactions between dark matter particles alter the predicted properties of dark matter halos and may help address small-scale structure issues, while maintaining the successes of standard cold dark matter at large scales. Self interactions allow for efficient heat transfer within a halo, which can be modeled using a gravothermal fluid approximation. In this talk, I will discuss how the choice of the particle physics model for self interactions, as well as the environment of the halo, impacts the phases of halo evolution.