Adi Zolotov (Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University)

Title: Challenges and Solutions to LambdaCDM on small scales

Using some of the highest resolution cosmological simulations ever produced of Milky Way-mass galaxies that include both baryons and dark matter, I show that the inclusion of baryonic physics alleviates some of the most worrying tension between observations of dwarf galaxies and the predictions of the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model. I will show that baryonic processes significantly reduce the dark matter mass in the central regions of field and satellite dwarf galaxies. Reducing central masses of these small galaxies solves three important challenges to the CDM model on small scales. It i) reproduces the observed internal dynamics of Milky Way and M31 satellites as a function of luminosity, ii) resolves the cusp/core problem in isolated field dwarfs, and iii) resolves the missing satellite problem at the massive end of the satellite mass function.