RSN 1: Galassie e Cosmologia Testing non-standard cosmologies with galaxy cluster internal dynamics

Dottorato - PhD thesis

Area Tematica: RSN 1: Galassie e Cosmologia

Referenti: Andrea Biviano (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Lorenzo Pizzuti (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Titolo: Testing non-standard cosmologies with galaxy cluster internal dynamics
Decorrenza: 18.05.2026

Descrizione:

Descrizione: The internal shape and spatial distribution of galaxy clusters provides a powerful test of the nature of the dark sector and gravity on cosmological scales. Different cosmological models -- including modified gravity, massive neutrinos, and self-interacting dark matter -- predict subtle but measurable deviations in the density and velocity profiles of cluster-sized halos. By analyzing large-scale hydrodynamical simulations, the PhD will characterize these signatures and quantify the impact of key systematics such as projection effects, triaxiality and the feedback of baryonic physics. These predictions will be compared with observations from ongoing galaxy surveys, such as DESI and Euclid, combining weak lensing and galaxy kinematics to reconstruct cluster mass profiles. The final aim is to assess whether current and upcoming data can robustly distinguish between standard and non-standard cosmological models, and to establish galaxy clusters as precision probes of the dark sector.