Low Surface Brightness Galaxies as Probes of Dark Matter

Rachel Kuzio de Naray

CWRU Astronomy

Dark matter plays an important role in our current understanding of the universe. Low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies exhibit large mass discrepancies down to small radii, making them excellent laboratories for probing the dark matter distribution and placing constraints on theoretical models. I will discuss how observational techniques have evolved to address a long-standing disagreement between observational results and theoretical predictions. I will present recent high-resolution Halpha Integral Field Unit (IFU) velocity field data for a sample of LSB galaxies. I will also discuss how mock IFU observations of N-body/SPH galaxy simulations can be used to investigate the limitations of the kinematic data and the IFU observational approach. Finally, I will discuss if baryonic processes could be responsible for modifying the dark matter halos of LSB galaxies.