Jesse B Golden-Marx

I am an Assistant Professor in Physics in the Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography at UNCW. I lead the Observational Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Group at UNCW. My research focuses on the connection between galaxies and dark matter to understand the formation and evolution of the most massive galaxies in the universe and the nature of dark matter within galaxy clusters. Currently, I'm focusing my research on Intracluster Light and Bright Central Galaxies, using data from the European Space Agency’s Euclid Space Telescope. Prior to arriving at UNCW, I was a Senior Research Associate at the University of Nottingham (Nottingham, UK). Before that I was a postdoctoral fellow at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Shanghai, China). I received my M.S. and Ph.D. in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Michigan. I completed my undergraduate degree in Physics at Brown University.

Education

Ph.D. in Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Michigan (2019)
M.S. in Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Michigan (2015)
Sc.B. in Physics, Brown University (2013)

Research Interests

Prof. Jesse Golden-Marx uses astronomical observations from the European Space Agencies Euclid Space Telescope (currently) and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (in the near future) to study the intersection between Galaxy Evolution, Cosmology, and data science. Specifically, his research uses observations of massive galaxies (predominately Bright Central Galaxies (BCGs)) within galaxy clusters and the faint and diffuse Intracluster Light (ICL) that surrounds BCGs to characterize how these most massive galaxies in the universe evolve over cosmic time. As a result of the central location of BCGs within galaxy cluster environments, observations of these galaxies can inform our understanding of the nature of dark matter within galaxy cluster environments. Additionally, Prof. Golden-Marx takes advantage of the large sample sizes to use statistical techniques to characterize the BCGs and ICL as statistical populations and study the connection between BCGs, ICL, and dark matter.