UNC-CH PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY COLLOQUIUM
Michael Hudson, University of Waterloo

“Seeing Dark Matter Through A Gravitational Lens”
For the four decades following Zwicky’s 1937 prediction of gravitational lensing by galaxies, all probes of dark matter were dynamical in nature. Since the discovery of the first double quasar and giant arcs in galaxy clusters, gravitational lensing has been an increasingly important tool for mapping dark matter over a wide range of physical scales and cosmic epochs. I will describe some of the history of dark matter and gravitational lensing, and show some recent applications. One such application is weighing the dark matter halos of galaxies. This is critical for understanding the puzzle of galaxy formation and evolution. I will highlight the recent work of our CFHTLenS team in this area and outline future prospects of this exciting field.