Joint Astrophysical Colloquium
The many lives of Cold Dark Matter
Andrea Macciò (New York University Abu Dhabi)
Thursday 13/10/2022 @ 11:30, Sala IV piano Battiferro + remote
Our current understanding of galaxy formation is based on the presence of an elusive matter component: the Cold Dark Matter (CDM). This simple model has been challenged many times in the past decade, mainly by galaxy observations on small scales: from the abundance of satellites, to the distribution of dark matter within galaxies, and more recently by the discovery of galaxies "without" dark matter. In my talk I will first revise all these claims with the help of cosmological numerical simulations of galaxy formation from the NIHAO project. I will then discuss whether there is indeed an observationally motivated need to abandon Cold Dark Matter and move beyond such a simple model.