Seminars

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies remain the cleanest, most powerful probe of fundamental physics in the cosmos.  Measurements of the small-scale CMB temperature and polarization fields have recently undergone transformative improvements with Data Release 6 (DR6) of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and will soon improve further with the Simons Observatory, which will open new windows into physics beyond the standard models (BSM) of particle physics and cosmology.  I will first discuss our recent cosmological parameter constraints from the ACT DR6 CMB power spectra, with a particular emphasis on constraining BSM physics operating just prior to recombination, including new relativistic particles and new pseudo-scalar fields.  I will then turn to novel searches for BSM physics in CMB secondary anisotropies, as could be imprinted by the screening of CMB photons by massive dark photons (DPs) or axion-like particles.  I will show the first results of searches for these signals in CMB data, enabled by our state-of-the-art needlet internal linear combination code, yielding leading bounds on kinetically mixed DPs and axion-photon couplings covering two decades in DP or axion particle mass.  I will conclude with a look ahead to the prospects for BSM physics from the Simons Observatory.

The Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS) has collected all of its images which form the basis of its 5th and final data release (KiDS-Legacy). In this talk I will summarise the resulting cosmic shear analysis from KiDS-Legacy and detail the various systematic and consistency tests that we performed to ensure its robustness. We find that with our new analysis choices and extra data the tension in S8 with respect to CMB data from Planck-Legacy has reduced to less than 1 sigma (assuming a flat-LCDM model), rendering it insignificant. At the end of this talk, I will point to the remaining cosmological analyses that are expected to be released in the near future.

The South Pole Telescope (SPT) and its third-generation camera (SPT-3G) are a highly sensitive facility for observing cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropies at small angular scales. The power spectra of CMB primary anisotropies and lensing obtained from SPT-3G data are providing new critical information on the composition and evolution of the universe, shedding new light on long-lasting cosmological tensions such as the Hubble tension, and discovering potentially new ones like the discrepancy of the matter density constraint from CMB and BAO data. In this talk, I will give an overview of the most recent SPT-3G results obtained from the two-year survey of the SPT Main field (SPT-3G D1). I will then present near-future prospects, showing that an upcoming extended survey with SPT-3G will deliver constraints on key cosmological parameters up to a factor of two more tightly than Planck, which will soon further advance our understanding of the cosmos.

The Hubble tension points to possible gaps in our understanding of physics around the epoch of recombination. A key aspect of the tension is its sensitivity to the sound horizon at decoupling, r_*, whose value depends on the microphysics of recombination. It is therefore highly desirable to obtain empirical constraints on both H_0 and r_* without relying on model-dependent assumptions. I will present recent work that demonstrates how combining baryon acoustic oscillations with CMB lensing enables such sound-horizon-agnostic measurements of the Hubble constant. I will also provide an update on primordial magnetic fields as a potential mechanism for alleviating the Hubble tension.

Cepheid variables remain the most robust and widely used primary distance indicators. In this talk, I will review recent developments in the Cepheid-SNIa distance ladder, focusing on key improvements in geometric distance measurements in anchor galaxies, particularly from eclipsing binaries and Gaia parallaxes, which calibrate the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation. The current status of the Cepheid metallicity dependence — which has long been debated — will also be presented. I will discuss new results from JWST observations that provide an independent check on HST-based Cepheid distances to a subset of SNIa host galaxies, effectively ruling out crowding as the source of the Hubble tension. Lastly, I will review progress from an ongoing HST program designed to cross-calibrate distances derived from Cepheids, the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB), and the JAGB method, aiming to better understand and constrain systematics affecting each technique.

We seem to be faced with an impossible task: to determine the precise microphysical model of dark energy. I will argue that, nevertheless, it may be possible to determine certain features of the nature of dark energy. In particular, and in light of recent cosmological data, I will show that it is unlikely that the dark energy is a simple, minimally coupled, “thawing”, scalar field. This means that there is scant evidence for, for example, rolling scalar fields like axions or other such simple models. A careful analysis seems to indicate a very strong preference (on any measure) for a non-minimally couple scalar field which brings with it a host of undesirable properties: time varying Newton’s constant and fifth forces. We will show that there are ways of getting around these problems, but we are left with the unwelcome requirement of further new physics on non-cosmological scales. I will conclude by surveying the narrow range of options that are available to explain current cosmological data.

The Hubble Tension is often quoted at >5 sigma significance, suggesting definitive evidence for new physics. In this talk, however, I present evidence that suggests uncertainties have been underestimated in the Cepheid-supernova (SN) analysis that strongly influences the Hubble Tension landscape. I then discuss a recent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) program which undertook a partially blinded, multi-method check on the Hubble Telescope (HST) distance measurements underlying previous distance ladder H0 estimates. The new JWST results yielded a lower H0 (70.4 ± 1.9 km/s/Mpc) than the latest SH0ES estimate (73.17 ± 0.86 km/s/Mpc), despite sharing the same geometric zero point calibration and SNe. Resolving this inconsistency in local distance ladder measurements is paramount before a realistic assessment of the Hubble Tension can be made.
To that end, I introduce a new, blinded analysis of the SNe used to determine H0 within the Union3+UNITY SN cosmology framework. Preliminary findings have revealed discrepancies with (and within) Pantheon+, including a systematic offset in their host masses that both biases their H0 and suppresses their evidence for evolving dark energy. We also see significant disagreements over the colors of SNe when estimated from identical data. Once unblinded, we will report separate H0 values based on either the SH0ES-Cepheid or CCHP-TRGB distances.

In the first part of my talk, I will review the phenomenology required to alleviate the Hubble tension through late-time new physics, focusing on the so-called angular (2D) and anisotropic (3D) BAO data, which themselves are in mutual tension. I will then present a recent model, the wXCDM, which combines quintessence with an exotic component known as “phantom matter.” This component satisfies the strong energy condition but exhibits negative energy density and positive pressure. The wXCDM model outperforms its competitors and resolves the H₀ tension when tested against a comprehensive dataset that includes 2D BAO. However, when angular BAO is replaced by 3D BAO — as expected — the model can no longer yield high values of H₀. Nevertheless, it still produces low chi-squared values, comparable to those found with the CPL parametrization. Finally, I will describe the Weighted Function Regression method, which enables a Bayesian and model-agnostic reconstruction of the effective dark energy properties and the late-time cosmic expansion history. I will also assess the impact of supernova data on quantifying the statistical evidence for dynamical dark energy in the late universe.

Time-delay cosmography with lensed quasars is a one-step method for estimating the Hubble constant in the local Universe independently of the cosmic distance ladder. It does not require any intermediate calibration and relies on measuring the time delays between multiple images of strongly lensed quasars, which are inversely proportional to the Hubble constant.

 In this talk, we present cosmological constraints from eight strongly lensed quasars (hereafter, the TDCOSMO-2025 sample), based on a new blind analysis by the TDCOSMO collaboration designed to prevent experimenter bias. Building on previous work, we have improved our modeling of line-of-sight effects, the surface brightness profiles of lens galaxies, and stellar orbital anisotropy, and we have corrected for projection effects in the lens dynamics. Our uncertainties are maximally conservative, accounting for the mass-sheet degeneracy in the deflectors’ mass density profiles, constrained by new measurements of stellar velocity dispersions from spectra obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Keck Telescopes, and the Very Large Telescope (VLT), and using improved methods.

 Our primary result, H_0 = 72.1+4.0−3.7 km/s/Mpc, is derived from the TDCOSMO-2025 sample combined with Ω_m constraints from the Pantheon+ Type Ia supernova (SN) dataset. We also present measurements of the Hubble constant combining TDCOSMO-2025 with external datasets from the Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) and Strong Lenses in the Legacy Survey (SL2S) lens sample, further improving the precision.

The Hubble constant measurement is robust against the addition of external lens samples, the choice of different cosmological models beyond the ΛCDM model, and the use of the Ω_m prior from other datasets, such as the DESI DR2 BAO or the DES Year-5 SN sample.

Spectroscopic galaxy surveys are among the most powerful tools in modern cosmology, allowing us to map the large-scale structure of the Universe and constrain its fundamental parameters. In this talk, I will introduce the principles behind galaxy redshift surveys, focusing on the design and goals of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). I will highlight key cosmological observables, including Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), and explain how DESI uses them to test models of dark energy and cosmic acceleration. I will then present recent results from DESI’s Year 1 and Year 3 analyses. Finally, I will discuss the emerging evidence for possible evolution in the dark energy equation of state and its implications for the standard cosmological model.