Izzy Gray

Ultra-faint dwarf galaxies are the oldest and most dark matter (DM) dominated stellar systems. The number density of such dwarfs in the nearby Universe provides a sensitive new probe of DM models. For my research, I focus on how stars map onto invisible DM halos. This consists of utilising and expanding the state-of-the-art EDGE simulation project which numerically models the formation of dwarfs in cold and warm DM cosmologies. Additionally, I will further develop the in-house Surrey code ‘DarkLight’ which paints stars and gas onto DM halos and allows us to compare calculations in different DM models with real data.