Postdoctoral Fellowship: AAPF: A Resolved Millimeter-wave Survey of Galaxy Clusters

Joseph Golec is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Golec will lead observations at millimeter wavelengths of the hot gas inside the most massive objects in the universe, galaxy clusters. Results from this project will help scientists understand how these colossal systems form and the roles played by black holes in the member galaxies, as well as dark matter, throughout their history. For the educational component of this project, Golec will develop a data analysis summer school for astronomy undergraduates with a focus on providing real-world data to students from underrepresented backgrounds in astronomy to prepare them for research roles. This project focuses on imaging the hot intracluster medium of galaxy clusters using the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect. Golec will employ the TolTEC trichroic polarimeter on the 50-meter Large Millimeter Telescope to conduct these observations. TolTEC's photometric bands centered at 150, 220, and 280 GHz make it well-suited for observing the SZ effect, yielding the highest angular resolution images of galaxy clusters at millimeter wavelengths from a single-dish telescope. To enhance the angular dynamic range of these images, the investigator will combine them with cluster images from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, whenever possible, to achieve high signal-to-noise across scales ranging from several arcminutes to ten arcseconds. This high sensitivity at various scales enables the study of shock fronts from cluster mergers, shocks arising from cosmic accretion at the cluster outskirts, and the impact of active galactic nuclei feedback on heating cluster cores. Additionally, the decoupling of baryonic and dark matter within clusters can be investigated when TolTEC images are combined with weak lensing and X-ray data. 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.