A Microlensing Search for Primordial Black Holes in Dark Energy Survey Date
- Wisconsin U., Madison
- Fermilab
The search for dark matter is currently one of the most exciting fields in astronomy. One possible candidate for dark matter is primordial black holes, formed from density fluctuations at the beginning of the universe. We search for these black holes through microlensing events by creating light curves from stars in the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Microlensing occurs when a primordial black hole (lens) passes in front of a background star, briefly brightening the output from that star. This brightening, due to the increase in magnitude, becomes detectable. First, we must cut out galaxies from our sample of stars. We then vary key parameters involved in lensing to create potential light curves, and then compare them to light curves from actual events, as well as calculating errors. We then send off these curves for further analysis to determine if any real events occurred. We plan to create 106 light curves, due to the large amount of parameters being varied. If these primordial black holes are dark matter, we hope to eventually detect multiple events using the light curves we have created.
- Research Organization:
- Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11359
- OSTI ID:
- 1462244
- Report Number(s):
- FERMILAB-POSTER-17-029-PPD; 1683394
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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