Dark Matter Structures in the Universe: Prospects for Optical Astronomy
  in the Next Decade
  The Cold Dark Matter theory of gravitationally-driven hierarchical structure
formation has earned its status as a paradigm by explaining the distribution of
matter over large spans of cosmic distance and time. However, its central
tenet, that most of the matter in the universe is dark and exotic, is still
unproven; the dark matter hypothesis is sufficiently audacious as to continue
to warrant a diverse battery of tests. While local searches for dark matter
particles or their annihilation signals could prove the existence of the
substance itself, studies of cosmological dark matter in situ are vital to
fully understand its role in structure formation and evolution. We argue that
gravitational lensing provides the cleanest and farthest-reaching probe of dark
matter in the universe, which can be combined with other observational
techniques to answer the most challenging and exciting questions that will
drive the subject in the next decade: What is the distribution of mass on
sub-galactic scales? How do galaxy disks form and bulges grow in dark matter
halos? How accurate are CDM predictions of halo structure? Can we distinguish
between a need for a new substance (dark matter) and a need for new physics
(departures from General Relativity)? What is the dark matter made of anyway?
We propose that the central tool in this program should be a wide-field optical
imaging survey, whose true value is realized with support in the form of
high-resolution, cadenced optical/infra-red imaging, and massive-throughput
optical spectroscopy.
