Abstract

Invited Talk - Plenary

Friday, 11 September 2026, 10:00   (MW-1801 / virtual plenum)

Astrophysical tests of dark matter: observations and simulations

Giulia Despali
University of Bologna

The nature of dark matter remains one of the most fundamental open questions in modern physics. Although the standard cold dark matter paradigm successfully reproduces the large-scale structure of the Universe, its microphysical properties remain unknown, given the lack of experimental detections. Astrophysical tests of the nature of dark matter are thus a fundamental ingredient in the search for new physics. I will discuss some of the most recent tensions between the CDM model and observations, including galaxy properties and gravitational lensing. I will also present recent progress in astrophysics simulations that incorporate the effects of alternative dark matter models and the insights they can give us on both dark matter physics and galaxy formation.