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Carl Grillmair
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology (IPAC Caltech)
& NOAO South Visiting Astronomer
 

"Probing Galactic Dark Matter with Stellar Debris Streams"
 

Tidal debris streams are sensitive probes of the Galactic potential field, in some cases exquisitely so.  Their positions, velocities, and morphologies will enable us to put much tighter constraints on the detailed shape of the Galactic halo, on the accretion history of the Galaxy, and on the existence and distribution of dark matter subhalos.  More than a dozen streams have been discovered in configuration space to date, and this number is likely to increase significantly as new survey instruments are brought on line.  I will briefly summarize the current state of the field, describe some early follow-on results, and discuss plans and prospects for the future.