The structure and spatial distribution of dark matter halos

This is a study of how the distribution and properties of dark matter halos can be utilized as probes of fundamental questions in modern cosmology. Spatial clustering of dark matter halo carry a wealth of information regarding its evolution history and environment. In particular, I study halo assembly bias, which refers to the assembly history dependence of spatial clustering for dark matter halos at fixed mass, using observational and cosmological simulation data. Understanding and modeling assembly bias provides insight into the context of hierarchical structure formation theory. Apart from spatial clustering I also study shapes of dark matter halos and how to measure them using three-point galaxy statistics, which itself serves as an astrophysical constraint on properties of dark matter.