PROFESSOR OLIVER HAHN

The dynamics of dark matter provides the backbone of studies of cosmic structure formation. Despite our ignorance about the particle physics nature of the elusive dark matter, its microscopic properties leave a distinct imprint on its macroscopic dynamics which can be studied in computer simulations. Such N-body simulations have driven most of our theoretical knowledge about the distribution of matter in the Universe which in turn reflects properties of the dark matter particle. The speaker will review the theoretical assumptions underlying such simulations and how they are used to study the nature of dark matter through its dynamics. He will particularly focus on recent attempts to model dark matter in the continuum limit. The last part of his talk will be dedicated to the properties, in particular the density profiles, of the very first dark matter haloes.