{"id":5096,"date":"2026-05-13T15:09:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/?post_type=profiles&#038;p=5096"},"modified":"2026-10-08T19:27:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T23:27:31","slug":"mark-gaskins","status":"publish","type":"profiles","link":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/profiles\/mark-gaskins\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Gaskins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Gaskins-Mark-e1791501968418.jpg\" alt=\"Gaskins, Mark\" class=\"wp-image-5597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Gaskins-Mark-e1791501968418.jpg 400w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Gaskins-Mark-e1791501968418-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Gaskins-Mark-e1791501968418-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-container-content-69bc4bdf wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>MIT Department: <\/strong><br>Physics<br><br><strong>Faculty Mentor<\/strong>: <br>Lina Necib<br><br><strong>Research Supervisor: <\/strong><br>Elliot Davies, Zeineb Mezghanni<br><br><strong>Undergraduate Institution:<\/strong><br>North Carolina A&amp;T State University<strong><br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Biography<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mark Anthony Gaskins is an Applied Physics student at North Carolina A&amp;T State University with interests in computational physics, astrophysics, dark matter, and data-driven research. He is participating in the MIT Summer Research Program, where he is conducting theoretical astrophysics research on dark matter and the evolution of stellar structures in the Milky Way. Mark Anthony has also gained research experience at Duke University\u2019s HIGS facility, where he participated in a nuclear physics experiment in a particle accelerator-based research environment. Outside of physics, he has worked as a software developer and educator, teaching programming and leadership through The Hidden Genius Project and developing AI-powered educational software with ScholarPrep Nation. Mark Anthony hopes to pursue graduate study and continue developing as a researcher. He is passionate about combining scientific research, technical problem-solving, and mentorship to advance discovery and support the next generation of STEM students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br><strong>Constraining Dark Matter with the Gaia Snail<br><\/strong>Mark Anthony Gaskins II<sup>1<\/sup>, Zeineb Mezghanni<sup>2,3<\/sup>, Elliot Davies<sup>3<\/sup> and Lina Necib<sup>2,3<\/sup><br><sup>1<\/sup>Department of Physics, North Carolina Agricultural &amp; Technical State University<br><sup>2<\/sup>Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br><sup>3<\/sup>Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Dark matter (DM) provides the gravitational scaffolding for galaxy formation. Because it only interacts with baryonic matter through gravity, its properties must be inferred from its dynamical influence on stars. Data from the Gaia space mission revealed a spiral-shaped overdensity in the (z, vz) space of solar neighborhood disk stars in the Milky Way (MW), dubbed the Gaia Snail. This discovery is a signature of phase mixing following a gravitational disturbance caused by the passage of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy (Sgr). The open question of whether the type of DM affects Snail\u2019s properties may help provide insight into the particle nature of DM. To connect DM physics to observable stellar motions, we create MW-like galaxies with a DM halo, a stellar disk, and a bulge using the GalIC code. We simulate the impact of a Sgr-like merger using GIZMO N-body simulations, reproducing the Snail in the stellar disk and comparing its evolution across DM self-interaction cross sections. Preliminary results show similar evolution across SIDM cross sections of 0.5-5.0 cm2\/g, with typical action differences below 3% and vertical-period differences below 0.4%. This work can guide future modeling efforts to constrain dark matter physics using the Gaia Snail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5597,"template":"","profile_category":[25],"class_list":["post-5096","profiles","type-profiles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","profile_category-2026-interns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/profiles"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5995,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5096\/revisions\/5995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"profile_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_category?post=5096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}