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Mike Boylan-Kolchin

Mike Boylan-Kolchin

In its most basic form, the highly successful ΛCDM cosmology can be encapsulated in six parameters. Once these parameters are specified, so too is a wide variety of phenomena, from fluctuations in the microwave background to the growth of structure to the evolution of the expansion rate of the Universe. While the model is in good agreement with the vast majority of observations, I will discuss two ΛCDM predictions that may be in tension with data: the properties of the earliest galaxy candidates that have been revealed with JWST and the current expansion rate of the Universe (the Hubble constant). The resolution of each of these discrepancies is currently unclear, and I will discuss the prospects for making progress on each separately. I will also speculate about the intriguing possibility of a common solution for these issues and how this might be tested in the near future, including the use of precision stellar age measurements in the local Universe.