Probe Combination for Dark Matter Physics in the Era of Large Surveys

Name: Probe Combination for Dark Matter Physics in the Era of Large Surveys
Start: 2026-09-02T08:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-09-04T19:30:00-05:00
Location: KICP, University of Chicago

Sep 2, 2026, 8:00 AM → Sep 4, 2026, 7:30 PM America/Chicago

401 (KICP, University of Chicago)

401

KICP, University of Chicago

University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

Daniel Gilman (The University of Chicago)

Description

Overview
Large surveys, such as Euclid, Rubin, and Roman, will soon enable groundbreaking tests of fundamental physics. In this new era of cosmology, experiments that combine multiple independent datasets will enable more powerful tests than any single technique.

This workshop brings together experts working on cosmic probes of dark matter substructure and fundamental physics to explore the challenges and opportunities associated with probe combination experiments. In particular, we will discuss optimum strategies for interpreting inferences from near field and extragalactic observations, including (but not limited to) dwarf galaxies, stellar streams, gravitational lensing, and the Lyman-alpha forest, and how to connect these distinct kinds of observations to theoretical predictions across a wide range of halo masses and cosmic time.

The format of the workshop will include a mix of review and contributed talks, discussion sessions, and hands-on tutorials. Discussions and tutorials will focus on the use of semi-analytic models and cosmological simulations to predict structure across these probes, in a range of dark matter models, and comparisons to data.

Available conference rooms:

419 Wednesday (8am-12pm), Thursday (all day)
445 Wed/Thurs/Fri (all day)
517 Wed/Thurs/Fri (all day)

Invited keynote speakers

Andrew Benson (Carnegie Observatories)
Sarah Pearson (Technical University of Denmark)
Vera Gluscevic (University of Southern California)
Mariangela Lisanti (Princeton)
Julian Muñoz (UT Austin)
Anna Nierenberg (UC Merced)

Tutorial sessions

Modeling dwarf galaxy populations (Jiaxuan Li)
Modeling stellar streams (Jake Nibauer)
Modeling strong gravitational lenses (Daniel Gilman)
Semi-analytic models and cosmological simulations for substructure predictions (Andrew Benson)

Participants

67 View full list

Wed, September 2
- 8:30 AM
  
  Breakfast/coffee 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- Connecting theory to observations 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
  - 1
    
    welcome and opening remarks 401
    
    401
    
    KICP, University of Chicago
    
    University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
    
    Speaker: Daniel Gilman (The University of Chicago)
    
    conference_logistics.pdf
  - 2
    
    Review: Connecting theory to observation with simulations and semi-analytic model
    
    Speaker: Andrew Benson
    
    KICP Reveiew Talk.pdf
  - 3
    
    SUBMERGE: Subhalo Mass Evolution in Realistic Galactic Environments
    
    Speaker: Tara Dacunha (Stanford University)
    
    TaraDacunha_SubMERGE_KICP.pdf
  - 4
    
    Calibrating Semi-Analytic Models to Beyond Cold Dark Matter
    
    Speaker: Dimple Sarnaaik (Carnegie Observatories)
    
    DimpleSarnaaik_CalibratingSAMs_KICP.pdf
  - 5
    
    Gravothermal Collapse Across Knudsen Numbers
    
    Speaker: James Gurian (Perimeter Institute)
  - 6
    
    Discussion
- 10:15 AM
  
  Coffee break
- Stellar streams as probe of DM 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
  - 7
    
    Review: Stellar streams as probes of dark matter
    
    Speaker: Sarah Pearson (The Technical University of Denmark, DTU Space)
    
    SP_StreamsKeynote.pdf
  - 8
    
    Probing dark matter with stellar-stream density fluctuations in the LSST era
    
    Speaker: Matthieu Pélissier (LPSC - CNRS)
    
    Chicago_KICP_2026.pdf
    
    Google slides
  - 9
    
    Constraining the Dark Matter Perturber of the AAU Stellar Stream Using Simulation-Based Inference
    
    Speaker: Ella Marin (University of Washington)
    
    Ella_Marin_Probe_Combination.pdf
  - 10
    
    Inference Pipeline for Quantitative Constraints on Dark Matter from Stellar Stream Dynamics
    
    Speaker: Jacob Nibauer (Harvard University)
  - 11
    
    Imprints of progenitor dynamics on stellar stream velocities
    
    Speaker: Anya Phillips (Harvard University)
    
    aPhillips.pdf
  - 12
    
    No Stream Left Unscathed: The Host Galaxy Baseline for Dark Matter Substructure
    
    Speaker: Arpit Arora (University of Washington)
  - 13
    
    Discussion
- 12:15 PM
  
  Lunch 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- Parallel tutorials: Numerical simulations ERC 419
  
  ERC 419
- Parallel tutorials: Stellar streams ERC 517
  
  ERC 517
- FLASH TALKS 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- Alternative DM models 1 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
  - 14
    
    Review: Alternative dark matter models and the linear matter power spectrum
    
    Speaker: Vera Gluscevic (USC)
    
    Chicago-2026-Gluscevic-v2.pdf
  - 15
    
    Beyond CDM: Limits from the Milky Way Satellites
    
    Speaker: Wendy Crumrine
    
    Crumrine_Slides.pdf
  - 16
    
    The Radial Distribution of MW Satellites: Survey Selection Effects and Host Properties
    
    Speaker: Niusha Ahvazi (University of Virginia)
  - 17
    
    Discussion
- 3:15 PM
  
  Coffee break
- Breakout/discussion 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- Reception 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
Thu, September 3
- 8:30 AM
  
  Breakfast/coffee 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- Alternative DM models 2 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
  - 18
    
    Review: Alternative dark matter models and small-scale structure
    
    Speaker: Mariangela Lisanti (Princeton University)
    
    Lisanti_KICP_Sep2026.pdf
  - 19
    
    The Cooling Curve is All You Need: A Framework for Characterising Dissipation in Dark Sectors
    
    Speaker: Sandip Roy (University of California San Diego)
  - 20
    
    Forward Modeling of MW Satellites for Dark Matter Inference in the Large-Survey Era
    
    Speaker: Soumyodipta Karmakar (University of New Mexico)
    
    KICP Dark Matter Workshop 2026 Presentation_Soumyodipta Karmakar.pdf
  - 21
    
    From Intact Dwarf Galaxies to Stellar Streams: Cosmological Tests of Self-Interacting Dark Matter
    
    Speaker: Maya Silverman (Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen)
    
    ChicagoDwarfsStreamsSIDM.pdf
  - 22
    
    Dark Matter with the Via Project
    
    Speaker: Vedant Chandra (Harvard/MIT)
    
    chandra_chicagodm_pdf.pdf
  - 23
    
    Discussion
- Coffee break 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- Extragalactic probes of DM 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
  - 24
    
    Review: High-z probes of cosmic structure
    
    Speaker: Julian Muñoz (UT Austin)
    
    JBM_KICP_hiz_structurereview.pdf
  - 25
    
    Cosmological Probes of Atomic Dark Matter
    
    Speaker: Jared Barron (Stony Brook University)
    
    JaredBarron_Chicago_aDM.pdf
  - 26
    
    Self-Interacting Dark Matter in the First 700 Myr
    
    Speaker: Tyler Smith (University of California, Irvine)
    
    2026_08_03 - SIDM in the First Billion Years.pdf
  - 27
    
    Discussion
- Lunch 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- Parallel tutorials: Modeling dwarf galaxy populations ERC 517
  
  ERC 517
- Parallel tutorials: Strong lensing and DM substructure ERC 419
  
  ERC 419
- Strong lensing as a probe of DM
  - 28
    
    Review: Strong lensing by galaxies as a probe of cosmic structure
    
    Speaker: Anna Nierenberg (UC Merced)
  - 29
    
    Simulation-based Forward-Modeling of Strong Lensing Substructure in Dark Matter Halos
    
    Speaker: Ollie Jackson (UC San Diego)
    
    KICP_Jackson.pdf
  - 30
    
    Recent advances in the flux-ratio anomaly statistics method for DM inference
    
    Speaker: Hadrien Paugnat (UCLA)
  - 31
    
    A novel probe of dark matter substructure in galaxy clusters from lensed arc asymmetry
    
    Speaker: Derek Perera (University of Minnesota)
    
    DM Probe Combination UChicago 2026.pdf
  - 32
    
    Discussion
- 3:00 PM
  
  Coffee break 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- Breakouts/discussion 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- Conference dinner Quadrangle Club
  
  Quadrangle Club
  
  University of Chicago
Fri, September 4
- 8:30 AM
  
  Breakfast/coffee 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- DM and dwarf galaxies 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
  - 33
    
    Antlia 2, Crater 2 and Bootes III: Milky Way's Satellite Galaxies under Tidal Stripping
    
    Speaker: Ting Li (University of Toronto)
    
    Chicago_disrupting_galaxies.pdf
  - 34
    
    The ELVES-Dwarf Survey: Satellite Populations Around Dwarf Galaxies
    
    Speaker: Jiaxuan Li (Stanford University)
    
    JLi_KICP_probe_combination_2026.pdf
  - 35
    
    Building massive stellar-kinematic samples of MW dwarf spheroidal galaxies and dark matter inference
    
    Speaker: Andrew Pace (University of Virginia)
    
    pace_KICP_DM_09_04_2026.pdf
  - 36
    
    Modeling Constraints and Dark Matter Implications of Crater II's Stellar Mass Loss
    
    Speaker: Kaia Atzberger
    
    Chicago Dark Matter Physics 2026 Presentation.pdf
  - 37
    
    Rotation Curve Diversity in CDM
    
    Speaker: Alyson Brooks (Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey)
    
    Chicago DM.pdf
  - 38
    
    Discussion 401
    
    401
    
    KICP, University of Chicago
    
    University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- 10:30 AM
  
  Coffee break
- Wrap up discussion 401
  
  401
  
  KICP, University of Chicago
  
  University of Chicago Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
- 12:00 PM
  
  Lunch (on your own)

Probe Combination for Dark Matter Physics in the Era of Large Surveys

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KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

ERC 419

ERC 517

401

KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

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KICP, University of Chicago

401

KICP, University of Chicago

ERC 517

ERC 419

401

KICP, University of Chicago

401

KICP, University of Chicago

Quadrangle Club

401

KICP, University of Chicago

401

KICP, University of Chicago

401

KICP, University of Chicago

401

KICP, University of Chicago