The nature of dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries of modern Cosmology. Astrophysical data has provided the strongest evidence for the existence of dark matter, but very little is known about its true nature. Dark matter could be composed as ultra light particles with masses as small as 10^-22 eV or primordial black holes with masses as high as 50 solar masses. In between these two extremes, dark matter could take multiple forms. This project will prove the two extreme ranges of ultra-light dark matter and massive primordial black holes using gravitational lensing. This technique can map the distribution of dark matter on small cosmological scales and provide the best constraints on the abundance of dark matter at these mass regimes.

The student will learn about dark matter, Cosmology, gravitational lensing, and acquire high-level programming skills.