Abstract:
Dark matter constitutes approximately 85% of the Universe's matter, yet its nature remains one of the biggest unresolved mysteries in physics. I will present results of our pixel lensing observations of the Andromeda galaxy using the Subaru Hyper Suprime Cam instrument. I will present constraints on the primordial black hole abundance in the mass range [10^{-11}-10^{-7}]MSun that we obtained from our observations. I will also present the challenges faced in order to probe even smaller mass range and discuss how lensing parallax from Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can be used to probe the abundance of PBHs in the unexplored mass range of [10^{-15}-10^{-11}]MSun. I will highlight the potential of the Indian GRB monitoring mission, Daksha, with twin satellites in low Earth orbit, to detect lensing events and place meaningful constraints on PBH abundance.
The speaker, Prof. Surhud More, is a Professor of Astrophysics at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune, India. His research bridges observational and theoretical astrophysics, focusing primarily on cosmology, dark matter, dark energy, and the formation and evolution of galaxies. He obtained his PhD from the Heidelberg University / Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, and then held positions at the University of Chicago, US, and the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (University of Tokyo, Japan). He holds key roles in major international projects, including the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam Survey and the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). He will give his talk in-person.
