Collaborative Research: Exploring Galaxy Growth in Diverse z~2.5 Cosmic Environments with Lyman-alpha Tomography

Principal Investigators (PIs) Newman and Bird are mapping galaxies’ locations in the cosmic web to understand how the environment affects the evolution of galaxies. PI Newman is using the Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph (IMACS) on the Magellan Baade Telescope to conduct the Lyman-alpha Tomography IMACS Survey (LATIS). PI Bird will make computational simulations and synthetic observations to optimize this 3-D survey of the early universe.

The PIs will co-mentor a UC Riverside undergraduate through the Carnegie Astrophysics Summer Student Internship program (CASSI). PI Bird will also design and deliver a CASSI workshop that introduces students to cosmological simulations and data visualization. PI Newman will develop and offer a spectroscopy module to 75 high school teachers during the annual UC Riverside Summer Teacher Physics Academy.

The team will map the z = 2.2-2.8 universe over 1.8 square degrees. They will determine the masses of a large sample of protogroups and protoclusters, investigate how different galaxy subpopulations trace LATIS-detected structures, and quantify the Mpc-scale environments of thousands of galaxies. The LATIS tomographic maps, 7000 galaxy spectra (including 4000 at z > 2.2), and accompanying software and documentation will be made publicly available.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.