Muni, Claudia; (2025) The Distribution of Dark Matter in Galaxies. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Text PhD_thesis_Muni_UCL.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 1 July 2026. Download (25MB)

Abstract

The way dark matter is distributed in galaxies holds key information about the nature of dark matter, since different particle models predict distinct halo density profiles. To use observations effectively to constrain dark matter models, we must first develop a thorough understanding of all the mechanisms that shape these density profiles. This thesis presents new methods to study dark matter distribution in galaxies, combining analytical work and state-of-the-art cosmological simulations. We explore the dynamics that sets density profiles and the role of astrophysical processes, such as feedback, in altering the dark matter distribution. In Chapter 2, we introduce a new technique that improves the precision of density profiles from N-body simulations using the particles’ dynamical information. We show we can achieve a reduction in Poisson noise by a factor of 12 in the halo’s central regions compared to binned estimates. We then investigate the impact of baryonic feedback on dark matter profiles using the EDGE hydrodynamical simulations of dwarf galaxies (Chapter 3). We show that the presence of a dark matter core is highly dependent on a galaxy’s formation history. We introduce a new quantity (M★,post/M★,pre; the stellar mass after and before reionisation) which is a stronger predictor of the presence of cores at

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