Review Paper

Due date: Friday, December 6th, 6pm (upload to Canvas)

Confirm topic with me by Friday, October 25th

Presentation Schedule

  • Monday, November 18th:
    • Zechmann: Primordial black holes
    • Ferrel: Dark matter particle candidates
  • Wednesday, November 20th:
    • Skinner: The first stars
    • Moore: Missing baryon problem
  • Friday, November 22nd:
    • Gregoire: SN feedback in SAMs
    • Brummel-Smith: SN feedback in numerical simulations
  • Monday, November 25th:
    • Li: Orbital decay models of SMBH binaries and GW background
    • Ferguson: Constraining models of galaxy formation with GWs from SMBHs
  • Monday, December 2nd:
    • Lott: Origins of the relation between a galaxy and its central BH
    • Allen: AGN feedback on galaxy formation

List of Potential Topics

(as people choose their topics, I will cross them out here)

  • Dark matter particle candidates
  • Gravitational waves from inflation
  • Primordial black holes
  • Streaming velocities between baryons and dark matter at recombination
  • Dark matter annihilation
  • Warm dark matter
  • Constraining dark energy with baryon acoustic oscillations
  • The first stars
  • The impact of reionization on galaxy formation
  • Quenching of satellite galaxies
  • Observational constraints on the shapes of dark matter halos
  • The nature of damped Lyman alpha systems
  • Origin of the cosmic star formation history
  • The missing baryon problem
  • Origin of the mass-metallicity relation of galaxies
  • The impact of AGN feedback on galaxy formation
  • Origin of the relation between a galaxy and its central black hole
  • What can globular clusters teach us about galaxy formation?
  • The angular momentum distribution of gas in dark matter halos
  • Supernova feedback in numerical simulations
  • Supernova feedback in semi-analytical models
  • Constraining models of galaxy formation with gravitational waves from SMBH mergers
  • Orbital binary SMBH decay models and the gravitational wave background
  • Formation and dynamics of cosmological bubbles
  • or define your own and confirm with me!

Instructions & Guidelines

  • Pick one of the topics in the list or define your own
  • One topic per student – first come first serve!
  • Search the literature for relevant papers (arXiv, ADS are very useful!). References in the textbook are also handy.
  • Pick 2-4 papers that will form the basis of your paper
  • As a guideline, pick papers with at least 10 citations per year since publication (see "citation history" in ADS entries)
  • Read your chosen papers and work through them until you understand the theoretical basis for their findings.
  • Write a review paper (8-10 pages) that summarizes your findings. This page count does not include references. Include any relevant figures, equations, and tables in your paper.
  • Prepare a ~20 minute presentation based on your paper that you will give at the end of the term.