Date of Award
2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Physics
Committee Chair
Massimiliano Bonamente
Committee Member
Jukka Nevalainen
Committee Member
Richard Lieu
Committee Member
James A. Miller
Committee Member
Ming Sun
Committee Member
Stephen Walker
Subject(s)
Baryons, Interstellar matter, Galaxies
Abstract
At low redshifts, observations account for only a fraction of the total predicted baryons in the universe. This is the ”Missing Baryon” Problem addressed in this project. Based on theory and simulations, it is believed that the missing baryons are located between galaxies as a diffused plasma with temperature range log T (K) = 5 − 7. This diffused plasma is called the Warm Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM). It is believed that the WHIM and the Luminosity Density (LD) of Galaxies are correlated within filamentary regions, which are thought to contain the majority of the WHIM. Thus the galaxy luminosity density can be used as a tracer to the WHIM. We use the EAGLE simulations to derive a scaling relation between LD and WHIM density within the filaments, and then we apply this scaling relation to SDSS. Once we apply it SDSS, we then obtain an estimate for Ω W HIM .
Recommended Citation
Holt, Patrick Sanchez, "Finding the missing baryons using the luminosity density of galaxies in large-scale WHIM filaments" (2021). Dissertations. 502.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-dissertations/502