Seminars

CosmoVerse holds regular seminars on the cosmological tensions, focusing on both new measurements and proposed solutions.

CosmoVerse Seminars

Tessa Baker
University of Portsmouth, UK
Thursday - November 14, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Cosmology with Gravitational Wave Sirens

Gravitational wave (GW) sirens are a group of methods used to constrain cosmological parameters and test the nature of gravity on large scales. In this talk I’ll introduce the main categories of GW sirens — bright, dark, and spectral —explaining how they differ, and how we work around the lack of further multimessenger events after GW170817.

We’ll take stock of where the current constraints from GW sirens stand. We’ll then explore how we can enhance these constraints through galaxy catalogue completion, i.e. reverse-engineering the distribution of faint galaxies missed by surveys.

Finally, we’ll look at what lies ahead in the short-term and long-term for cosmology using GW sirens. With tens of thousands (or more) of GW sources in hand, can we use GWs as ‘just another tracer’ of large-scale structure?

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Vivian Miranda
Wednesday - November 27, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
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Elsa Teixeira
Thursday - December 12, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
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William Giarè
University of Sheffield, UK
Wednesday - December 18, 2024 @ 10:30am CET
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Jens Chluba
Thursday - January 23, 2025 @ 5:00pm CET
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Past Seminars

Khaled Said
University of Queensland
Thursday - October 31, 2024 @ 3:00pm CET
Title: DESI Peculiar Velocity Survey: Fundamental Plane

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Peculiar Velocity Survey aims to measure the peculiar velocities of early- and late-type galaxies within the DESI footprint using both the Fundamental Plane and Tully-Fisher relations. These direct measurements promise to tighten constraints on the growth rate by a factor of 2.5 at z=0.1 compared to redshift-space distortions alone. I’ll present our method for assessing stellar velocity dispersions from DESI spectra and establishing the Fundamental Plane. After calibrating our sample using SBF, we constructed the Hubble diagram and estimated a Hubble constant of H0 = 76.05 ± 0.35 (statistical) ± 0.49 (systematic FP) ± 4.86 (statistical due to calibration) km s^-1 Mpc^-1. I’ll discuss key systematics and their impacts and look ahead to upcoming DESI releases and future surveys like WALLABY and 4HS.

Abstract
Glenn Starkman
Case Western Reserve University
Thursday - October 17, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: The Universe is Not Statistically Isotropic

We have long celebrated the great success of cosmology in predicting the observed properties of the cosmic microwave background.  And yet, for well over two decades there has been consistent and slowly mounting evidence that on large scales the CMB is anomalous.   The evidence is consistent from experiment to experiment and it implies the violation of statistical isotropy.   I will discuss this evidence, why it is so compelling, and where it may be pointing us.

Abstract
Leandros Perivolaropoulos
University of Ioannina
Wednesday - October 2, 2024 @ 10:30am CET
Title: Hubble tension: A global perspective of measurements and models

I review the current status of the Hubble tension emphasizing the following:

1. Current measurements of H_0 indicate a tension not between early and late time measurements of H_0 but between distance ladder based measurements which favor a high value of H0 and all other measurements which favor a low value of H0. These measurements include sound horizon based measurements and one step measurements that are independent of the sound horizon involving both late and early time physics. The one step sound horizon free measurements (31), are consistent with each other (\chi^2/dof=1) provided that two outliers (TDCOSMO I and MCP-SH0ES) are removed one of which has been shown to be plagued with systematics (TDCOSMO I).

2. Models for the resolution of the Hubble tension using H(z) deformations, are faced with serious challenges. The most important challenge is the inconsistency between BAO and SnIa distances at low redshifts if SnIa are calibrated with distance ladder and BAO with the sound horizon scale. These data can not be simultaneously fit by this class of models. In addition these models can not be consistent with late time one step H_0 measurements that favor low values of H_0.

3.  Models for the resolution of the Hubble tension using pre recombination physics that decreases the sound horizon scale,  are also faced with serious challenges. The most important challenge is that even if they manage to consistently increase the predicted value of H_0, they will still be unable to fit one step measurements of H_0 that are independent of the sound horizon scale and favor a lower value of H_0.

4. Based on the above it becomes highly likely that there is a problem with distance ladder measurements which is the only class of measurements based on local astrophysics (redshifts between 0 and 0.01 or distances between 0 and 40Mpc and times between present and 150Myrs ago). I thus argue that the Hubble tension may indicate a new phenomenon in the above scales which may either manifest as a common unknown systematic effect in diverse distance ladder based measurements or a fundamental physics transition which affects the above local scales or times.

Abstract
Nils Schöneberg
University of Barcelona
Thursday - September 19, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Recombination solutions to the Hubble tension -- Is there hope?

Early-time solutions to the Hubble tensions currently appear to be our best shot at finding a theoretical model that would reconcile the current measurements from the local distance ladder and the CMB while remaining in agreement with other late-time probes. In this talk I focus on those solutions that modify the redshift of recombination, such as through early variations of fundamental constants, quickly review the mechanism of these kinds of solutions, and discuss their viability with regard to current data. While the parameter space is continually closing in on these kinds of models, a shift of the electron mass in the early universe stubbornly remains a surprisingly good candidate model to explain the Hubble tension. We even find some evidence that current BAO data from DESI might favor such a model.

Abstract
Laura Herold
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
Wednesday - September 4, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Cosmological Tensions & Statistics: Insights from Bayesian and Frequentist Approaches

Frequentist parameter inference using profile likelihoods has received increased attention in the cosmology literature recently since it can give important complementary information to Bayesian credible intervals. In this talk, I will give an overview about Bayesian and frequentist parameter constraints and focus on the limitations of both approaches, highlighting the necessary assumptions behind them.  This becomes particularly relevant in the context of cosmological tensions, which motivate new physics beyond LCDM, often introducing many additional parameters, which are not well constrained by the data and can lead to misleading results. I will illustrate this with several examples. In the context of the “Hubble tension”, I will discuss why frequentist and Bayesian approaches can give different answers to the question as to whether Early Dark Energy can resolve the “Hubble tension”. I will also touch on the apparent preference for negative neutrino masses in cosmology and the “$\sigma_8$ tension” in the context of the Effective Field Theory of large scale structure using both statistical approaches.

Abstract
Adam Riess
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
Wednesday - August 28, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: What JWST Can and Cannot (yet) Reveal about the Hubble Tension

JWST provides new opportunities to cross-check the HST Cepheid/SNeIa distance ladder, which yields the most precise local measure of H0. We analyze early JWST subsamples (~1/4 of the HST sample) from the SH0ES and CCHP groups, calibrated by a single anchor (NGC4258). We find HST Cepheid distances agree well (1 sigma) with all 8 combinations of methods, samples, and telescopes: JWST Cepheids, TRGB, and JAGB by either group, plus HST TRGB and Miras. Mean differences are ~0.03 mag, far smaller than the 0.18 mag “Hubble tension.” Combining all measures produces the strongest constraint yet on the linearity of HST Cepheid distances, 0.994+-0.010, ruling out distance-dependent bias or offset as the source of the tension at ~7 sigma. Yet, measurements of H0 from current JWST subsamples produce large sampling differences whose size and direction we can directly estimate from the full HST set. We show that Delta(H0) ~ 2.5 km/s/Mpc between the CCHP JWST program and the full HST sample is entirely consistent with differences in sample selection. Combining all JWST samples produces a new, distance-limited set of 16 SNe Ia at D<25 Mpc and more closely resembles the full sample thanks to “reversion to the mean” of larger samples. Explicitly accounting for SNe in common, the combined-sample three-method result from JWST is H0=72.6+-2.0, similar to H0=72.8 expected from HST Cepheids in the same galaxies. The small JWST sample trivially lowers the Hubble tension significance due to small-sample statistics and is not yet competitive with the HST set (42 SNeIa and 4 anchors), which yields 73.2+-0.9. Still, the joint JWST sample provides important crosschecks which the HST data passes.

Abstract
Wendy Freedman
University of Chicago, USA
Wednesday - August 21, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: What We are Learning from JWST About the Hubble Tension

I will describe results from a new JWST program to improve measurements of the Hubble constant. The 10 times greater sensitivity and 4 times higher resolution of JWST in the near-infrared provide a powerful means of addressing challenges in previous measurements of the extragalactic distance scale. Distances to a sample of Type Ia supernova hosts have been measured using three independent astrophysical routes: 1) the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB)  2) the luminosity function of JAGB/carbon  stars and 3)  the Cepheid period-luminosity relation. These three measurements provide a constraint on the systematic uncertainties in the distances that set the local calibration for the Hubble constant.  All of the distances are anchored to the geometric distance for  the maser galaxy, NGC 4258, also observed with JWST. The TRGB and JAGB distances agree at the 1% level, and the agreement with Cepheids is 2.5-4%. Tying into the sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNeIa) from the Carnegie Supernova Project and combining the results for the three distance indicators leads to value of the Hubble constant of 69.96 +/- 1.05 (stat) +/- 1.12 km/sec/Mpc. These results are consistent with both the standard model Lambda CDM model and with the existence of a Hubble tension. The TRGB and JAGB measurements rely on JWST measurements alone and lead to a smaller value of Ho = 69.03 ± 1.75 (total uncertainty). Larger samples of JWST measurements will be required to address both the statistical and the systematic uncertainties in the current sample of SNeIa host galaxies.

Abstract
Willem Elbers
Durham University, UK
Thursday - July 18, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Cosmological neutrino tensions

I will discuss the latest results on the emerging tension between cosmology and neutrino oscillation experiments. I will also talk about the S8 tension between CMB and low redshift probes of matter clustering, presenting results from the FLAMINGO suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. In particular, I will argue that baryonic feedback processes are cosmologically coupled, which naturally leads to stronger feedback for cosmological models with suppressed structure formation, such as models with neutrinos or decaying dark matter.

Abstract
Istvan Szapudi
University of Hawaii
Wednesday - July 3, 2024 @ 10:30am CET
Title: The ISW Puzzle

The Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect from stacking Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) images of superclusters and voids persists as a challenge to the concordance $\Lambda$CDM paradigms. The signal is 4-5 times the expectation. The CMB Cold Spot, the most significant CMB anomaly, resulted in the discovery of the Eridanus Supervoid, one of the most enormous known structures. Bayesian statistics and a later DES analysis suggest it is responsible for the Cold Spot, consistent with the observed four-fold enhancement over concordance predictions. These results motivate the AvERA model tracking coarse-grained inhomogeneities in an N-body simulation. The AvERA expansion history provides a “late solution” to the Hubble-constant tension with emerging curvature taking the role of Dark Energy, is consistent with all principal CMB and large-scale structure measurements, and solves the ISW puzzle. In addition, it predicts a sign reversal of the ISW effect that has been recently confirmed, albeit at a moderate significance, with eBOSS quasars. Deep and wide galaxy surveys, such as Euclid, will soon confirm or refute the “late complexity” indicated by the ISW sign reversal, increase the overall statistical significance of the findings, and settle whether the ISW puzzle necessitates any significant modification to the concordance $\Lambda$CDM paradigm.

Abstract
Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki
University of Texas at Dallas, USA
Monday - June 24, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: DESI First Year Cosmology and Dark Energy Results and Tensions from BAO

I will present cosmology results from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) year-1 data for the expansion history derived from precise measurements of the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). The results particularly include new stringent constraints on the dark energy equation of state, the Hubble parameter, spatial curvature, and neutrino mass from DESI data with and without various other available cosmological data sets. Constraint on H0 will be provided independently from the CMB and the local measurements.  Dark Energy results in some tension with the cosmological constant of LCDM will be presented. Some cosmological implications of the results will be briefly discussed.

Abstract
Dragan Huterer
University of Michigan, USA
Thursday - June 20, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Evidence for the suppression of structure growth in the standard cosmological model

I will first review the status of the theory/data interface in cosmology, focusing in particular on the Hubble tension as well as recent results from large cosmological surveys. I will then review recent work where we found a ~4-sigma evidence for the suppression of growth of structure in the standard cosmological model.  I will end by reviewing expected forthcoming measurements that will shed light on cosmological tensions, including those from the DESI experiment.

Abstract
Ruchika
University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy
Thursday - June 13, 2024 @ 10:30am CET
Title: Reviewing Anomalies and Exploring/Proposing New Directions: CMB, BAO and SNe-Ia

From the perspective that Hubble Tension is tension between the standard distance ladder and the inverse distance ladder, in this talk, I will review anomalies within CMB and talk about our recent analysis combining CMB with JWST results questioning Planck CMB Polarisation results.  I will discuss the change in results from the standard distance ladder and the shift in the value inference of the Hubble Constant after relaxing assumptions such as PLR break or allowing G-Transtion locally. Further, I will discuss recent results comparing two different BAO datasets – 2D and 3D and quantify which one is more reliable.  I will conclude by discussing the most promising directions in and among three main probes of cosmology: CMB, BAO and SNe Ia.

Abstract
Siyang Li
John Hopkins University
Thursday - May 23, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Reconnaissance with JWST of the J-region Asymptotic Giant Branch in Distance Ladder Galaxies: From Irregular Luminosity Functions to Approximation of the Hubble Constant

The J-region Asymptotic Giant Branch (JAGB) refers to a region in a near-infrared color magnitude diagram that contains thermally pulsating carbon stars. Recent studies have proposed that the mean, median, mode, or modelled parameter of the JAGB luminosity function can be used as a standard candle to construct an extragalactic distance ladder to measure the Hubble constant serving the same role as that of Cepheids, Tip of the Red Giant Branch, and Miras. In this talk, I will describe a recent investigation into the consistency of the JAGB method as well as a JAGB measurement of the Hubble constant using JWST NIRCam observations of the maser host NGC 4258 and four Type Ia supernovae hosts. We find evidence of field-to-field variations, as well as non-uniform asymmetry in the JAGB luminosity function that give rise to methodological variations in the JAGB reference magnitude. While our data is consistent with a broad range of H0=71-78 km/s/Mpc, we caution that due to small host sample statistics, few calibration fields (in NGC 4258) and the non-uniformity issue, further work is needed to standardize and sample JAGB before it is competitive and compared to other more established distance indicators. We discuss such efforts to expand and extend the method including from a new JWST Cycle 2 program.

Abstract
Emmanuel Saridakis
National Observatory of Athens
Wednesday - May 8, 2024 @ 10:30am CET
Title: (Late-time) “solutions” to H0 and S8 tensions through modified gravity.

We discuss some possible late-time alleviations of H0 and S8 tensions in the context of modified theories of gravity. In particular, we examine how torsional and non-metric theories can lead to weaker gravity at “intermediate” scales, in a suitable way in order to lead to faster expansion and less matter clustering (and we show why this is not possible in simple curvature-based modifications).

Abstract
Valerio Marra
Federal University of Espírito Santo in Vitória, Brazil
Thursday - April 25, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: The BEHOMO project: linear perturbations on a ΛLTB background

The universe may feature large-scale inhomogeneities and isotropies that cannot be explained by the standard model of cosmology. After reviewing present observational constraints on inhomogeneity around us, I will present the BEHOMO project (Cosmology BEyond HOMOgeneity and Isotropy), whose aim is to study, via numerical cosmology methods, the evolution of the large-scale structure on an inhomogeneous background. I will describe the BEHOMO suite of 68 simulations and data products, and I will present the preliminary results regarding the growth of structures. Specifically, I will show that the zero-shear approximation is able to accurately describe the angular power spectrum of the simulations that have mildly nonlinear LTB structures.

Abstract
Maria Giovanna Dainotti
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Wednesday - April 10, 2024 @ 10:30am CET
Title: On the statistical assumption on the distance moduli of Supernovae Ia and its impact on the determination of cosmological parameters

Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are considered the most reliable standard candles and they have played an invaluable role in cosmology since the discovery of the Universe’s accelerated expansion. During the last decades, the SNe Ia samples have been improved in number, redshift coverage, calibration methodology, and systematics treatment. These efforts led to the most recent “Pantheon” (2018) and “Pantheon +” (2022) releases, which enable to constrain cosmological parameters more precisely than previous samples. In this era of precision cosmology, the community strives to find new ways to reduce uncertainties on cosmological parameters. To this end, we start our investigation even from the likelihood assumption of Gaussianity, implicitly used in this domain. Indeed, the usual practice involves constraining parameters through a Gaussian distance moduli likelihood. This method relies on the implicit assumption that the difference between the distance moduli measured and the ones expected from the cosmological model is Gaussianly distributed. In this work, we test this hypothesis for both the Pantheon and Pantheon + releases. We find that in both cases this requirement is not fulfilled and the actual underlying distributions are a logistic and a Student’s t distribution for the Pantheon and Pantheon + data, respectively. When we apply these new likelihoods fitting a flat ΛCDM model, we significantly reduce the uncertainties on the matter density ΩM and the Hubble constant H0 of ∼ 40%. As a result, the Hubble tension is increased at > 5 σ level. This boosts the SNe Ia power in constraining cosmological parameters, thus representing a huge step forward to shed light on the current debated tensions in cosmology. This analysis has been extended also to the GRBs and BAO and results show a decrease in terms of cosmological parameters also when these probes are added.

Abstract
David Wiltshire
University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Thursday - March 28, 2024 @ 7:00pm CET
Title: Exploding the Hubble tension with dynamical spatial curvature

Quantitative solutions to the Hubble tension have been toyed with in exact inhomogeneous cosmologies for decades. Fundamentally we must ask:

  • Can the average expansion history of matter and structures in the observed Universe be realistically and rigorously reduced to a Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) model?
  • Can observed departures from average FLRW expansion always be exactly reduced to a local Lorentz boosts, i.e., peculiar velocities, of the source, observer and intervening structures?

It is a direct consequence of the general relativity that the answer to the above questions is no. However, since the standard Λ Cold Dark Matter cosmology can explain so much, any realistic alternative must give answers which are (i) theoretically compelling; (ii) agree with observational tests of ΛCDM within instrumental, statistical and systematic uncertainties; (iii) explain observed tensions and anomalies; (iv) make predictions for new experiments.

The Timescape cosmology has provided such a framework since 2007 but its predictions had to wait for the level of precision now available in the 2020s from multi-messenger astronomy, and complementary missions from DES, DESI, … to Euclid and JWST. Notably, independent projections made for the Euclid satellite in 2014 indicate that within 5 years either the FLRW expansion history, or any realistic non-FLRW alternative, will be falsified.

Firstly, by a thorough reanalysis of the Pantheon+ catalogue of 1535 unique supernove Ia (arXiv:2311.01438) – including details of light-curves, bootstrapped resampling, convergence by both Bayesian and complementary frequentist statistical methods – we find a self-consistent resolution of debates about the basic cosmological paradigm in which:

  • the “Hubble tension” is resolved;
  • the Timescape (with backreaction and no cosmological constant) is a marginally better fit than Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM);
  • empirical astrophysical puzzles (“Hubble bubble”, galactic dust properties) are resolved;
  • hidden detail in the light-curve data is revealed by a new empirical scheme which admits non-FLRW average expansion.

Secondly, application of similar methodology to the largest strong gravitational lens catalogue (arXiv:2403.11997) favours Timescape. For Singular Isothermal Sphere lens profiles, models with FLRW spatial curvature fit better as the free parameter approaches an unphysical empty universe, ΩM0 → 0. By contrast, the Timescape single free parameter, the void fraction, is driven to 𝑓v0 → 0.73, within the uncertainty found from Planck CMB data, and from Sne Ia tests.

Thirdly, empirical data-driven approaches to the construction of void finders are adapted to develop rigorous tools for novel approaches to void statistics in full numerical general relativity simulations (arXiv:2403.15134). Within the limits of resolution of the simulations, the results are again consistent with Timescape parameters.

We welcome discussion about open questions, current limitations, ongoing investigations and further observational tests.

Abstract
Tamara Davis
Queensland University
Wednesday - March 13, 2024 @ 10:30am CET
Title: Supernova cosmology with the complete Dark Energy Survey

I will present the results from the supernova cosmology key paper with the completed Dark Energy Survey.  With a brand new sample of ~1500 type Ia supernova, which approximately quintuples the cosmology-quality high-redshift (z > 0.5) supernovae in the literature, we find tight constraints on dark energy and dark matter.  In addition to the standard cosmological analyses I will present our explorations of the deeper implications into the nature of dark energy such as testing its time variability (and maybe even measuring cool effects like cosmological time dilation).  I’ll introduce a new parameter Q_H (in analogy to S_8 for lensing) that takes into account the degeneracy direction in the w-Omega_M plane for SNe.  Finally, I’ll  show to what extent our published Hubble diagram is cosmological model independent, and how to use the data to test your own favourite cosmological model.

Abstract
Tommaso Treu
UCLA
Thursday - February 29, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: The Hubble constant from gravitational time delays

The standard LCDM model gives a successful description of many astrophysical observations. However, in the past few years a tension has developed between local determinations of the Hubble constant and the value predicted from early universe probes. If confirmed, this so-called Hubble Tension, would require additional physical ingredients beyond LCDM, e.g. early dark energy, or new particles. After describing the tension, I will provide an update of a 25-year long effort to measure the expansion history of the universe and thus the Hubble constant using gravitational time delays, highlighting recent results based on lensed quasars from the TDCOSMO collaboration (the union of H0licow/STRIDES/SHARP collaborations), and from multiply imaged supernovae, including Refsdal. I will show new JWST HST Keck and VLT data that we are currently analysing with the goal of achieving 1-2% precision and accuracy on H0 and thus contribute to the resolution of the Hubble tension.

Abstract
Joan Solà Peracaula
Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
Wednesday - February 21, 2024 @ 10:30am CET
Title: Running vacuum in the Universe: theoretical framework and implications on the cosmological problems and tensions

The possibility that the vacuum energy density (VED) could be a running quantity in the expanding Universe is intuitively more reasonable than just a rigid cosmological constant for the entire cosmic history. In fact, it may be more than a mere intuition. In the context of the running vacuum model (RVM), one finds that the VED evolves as a power series of the Hubble rate, H(t), and its time derivatives. This is not an ad hoc structure for it emerges from the result of detailed calculations in quantum field theory (QFT) in cosmological (FLRW) spacetime. The powers of H are just quantum effects from the vacuum fluctuations. As a result, the RVM i) predicts the running of both the cosmological `constant’ and the gravitational`constant’; ii) contributes to alleviate major issues such as the fine tuning conundrum within the cosmological constant problem; iii) furnishes a new mechanism for inflation; and iv) it implies that the (quantum) vacuum has a dynamical equation of state parameter (rather than the rigid value -1, as usually assumed), thus mimicking quintessence or phantom DE and potentially rendering the traditional DE fields expendable. Last, but not least, the RVM has a positive bearing on easing the current phenomenological tensions within the concordance model. In this talk, I will show that all of these properties are actually a generic prediction of QFT in FLRW spacetime. While this framework stems from old semi-qualitative ideas, only recently it has been possible to substantiate it after identifying an appropriate renormalization framework for tackling the issue of vacuum energy in the context of QFT and its connection with Cosmology.

Abstract
Stefano Anselmi
INFN, Sezione di Padova, Italy
Wednesday - January 24, 2024 @ 10:30am CET
Title: Can we use Baryon Acoustic Oscillations distances?

Baryon Acoustic Oscillations are considered one of the most powerful cosmological probes. They are assumed to provide distance measures independent of a specific cosmological model. At the same time the obtained distances are considered agnostic with respect to other cosmological observations. However, in current measurements, the inference is done assuming parameter values of a fiducial LCDM model and employing prescriptions tested to be unbiased only within some LCDM fiducial cosmologies. Moreover the procedure is plagued by the ambiguity of choosing a specific correlation function model-template to measure cosmological distances.
Does this comply with the requirement of model and parameter independent distances useful, for instance, to characterize cosmological tensions?
In this talk I will review the subject, answer compelling questions and explore new promising research directions.

Abstract
Sunny Vagnozzi
Department of Physics, University of Trento
Thursday - January 11, 2024 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Seven hints that early-time new physics alone is not sufficient to solve the Hubble tension

It appears by now established that solving the Hubble tension requires new physics operating at early times, i.e. prior to recombination. But is that really the end of the story? Based on Miller’s law (which states that the number of objects the average person can hold in working memory is about seven), I will present seven independent hints pointing towards the fact that the Hubble tension requires more than just early-time new physics, and will discuss my personal thoughts about what the most promising scenarios might be moving forward (also keeping in mind the S8 tension).

Abstract
Florian Niedermann
Nordita
Wednesday - December 6, 2023 @ 10:30am CET
Title: Addressing Cosmic Tensions with a New Phase Transition in the Early Universe

Differing measurements of the expansion rate of the Universe have given rise to an observational dilemma in cosmology commonly referred to as the Hubble tension. A possible solution is provided by the model of New Early Dark Energy. Here, a scalar field’s false vacuum energy plays the role of an early dark energy component that leads to a short repulsive boost close to matter-radiation equality before it decays through a fast, triggered first-order phase transition. I will outline a particular microphysical implementation, highlight the importance of a trigger mechanism, and discuss the model’s phenomenology. Finally, I will report on recent results and show how the same physics can address another observational challenge relating to the large-scale structure of the Universe.

Abstract
Adam Riess
Johns Hopkins University, USA
Wednesday - November 22, 2023 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Thanks (giving) for JWST

A couple of days before the US holiday, Thanksgiving, I will give thanks for the new James Webb Space Telescope and share some early results from it. Specifically I will focus on the increased resolution and sensitivity of JWST in the context of local distance measurements in the hosts of 7 SN Ia and direct comparisons between past results from the Hubble Space Telescope and JWST. We find that systematic errors in HST Cepheid photometry do not play a significant role in the decade-long Hubble Tension, leaving us without a source of error to explain its presence.

Abstract
Alice Pisani
CCA Flatiron Institute/Cooper Union/Princeton University
Thursday - November 16, 2023 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Unraveling cosmology with cosmic voids

Modern surveys provide access to high-quality measurements on large areas of the sky, sampling the galaxy distribution in detail also in the emptiest regions, voids. Void cosmology is becoming an increasingly active sector of galaxy clustering analysis: by measuring void properties, such as density profiles or void number counts, it is possible to constrain cosmological parameters. Cosmic voids are particularly sensitive to the properties of dark energy and neutrinos, and are a powerful tool to test modifications of the laws of general relativity. Studying voids provides a novel perspective to unravel the unsolved mysteries of our Universe.
In this talk I introduce cosmic voids as a tool for cosmology, I present recent results, and discuss the perspective of voids on the rising cosmology tensions. I also discuss current challenges and future developments in the field.

Abstract
Paolo Salucci
SISSA, Italy
Wednesday - November 8, 2023 @ 10:30am CET
Title: Understanding the Nature of the Dark Matter: a new Paradigm for new Scenarios.

Although most of cosmologists believe that we live in a Λ𝐶𝐷𝑀 Universe, the phenomenon of the Dark Matter continues to baffle the researchers: the underlying dark particle has escaped, so far, the detection and its astrophysical role appears to be very complex and entangled with that of the standard luminous particles. As an example, in disc systems, there is a number of well known scaling laws, connecting among them the structural properties of the dark and the luminous matter, that are too complex to be arisen in a scenario in which these two mass components do not “talk” to each other but just share the same gravitational field. We propose that, in order to proceed efficiently, alongside with abandoning the current Λ𝐶𝐷𝑀 scenario, we need also to shift the Paradigm from which such scenario has emerged.
Then, we advocate for a Paradigm, according to which, we are poised to search for DM scenarios without requiring that: (a) they naturally come from (known) “first principles” (b) they obey to the Occam razor idea (c) they have the bonus to lead us towards the solution of presently open big issues of fundamental Physics. On the other side, the proper search shall: (i) give precedence to observations and to the experimental results, wherever these may lead us (ii) consider the possibility that the Physics behind the Dark Matter phenomenon be disconnected from the Physics we know and and that, furthermore, iii) the actual scenario does not comply with the usual canons of beauty.
An immediate application of this paradigm leads us to a Scenario featuring a direct interaction between Dark and Standard Model particles that has finely shaped the inner regions of galaxies.

Abstract
Richard Anderson
EPFL
Thursday - October 26, 2023 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Towards a direct 1% measurement of the Hubble constant using standard candles

I will review recent work aimed at measuring the Hubble constant to 1% using the extragalactic distance ladder, with a focus on stellar standard candles. In particular, I will present progress in the understanding of Gaia parallax systematics unraveled by asteroseismology, the most accurate absolute calibration of Cepheids based on Gaia parallaxes of star clusters, and the improvements to Cepheid photometry enabled by the unprecedented near-infrared spatial resolution of the James Webb Space Telescope. In turn, I will present recent improvements to the Tip of the Red Giant Branch calibration in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Abstract
Asta Heinesen
Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen
Wednesday - October 11, 2023 @ 10:30am CET
Title: Dimming of light in general relativity: On the possible emergence of apparent dark energy effects

Can modern cosmological observations be reconciled with a general-relativistic Universe without an anti-gravitating energy source? Usually, the answer to this question by cosmologists is in the negative, and it is commonly believed that the observed excess dimming of light from supernovae relative to the predictions of the Milne model is evidence for dark energy. In this talk I will illustrate why this intuition does not generally hold once the symmetries of the Friedman-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker metric are broken. This opens up an avenue of research into general-relativistic space-time solutions without dark energy that may be competitive cosmological models. I will discuss the geometrical constraints that such space-times must necessarily satisfy in order to conform with cosmological observations.

Abstract
Agnès Ferté
SLAC/KIPAC
Thursday - September 28, 2023 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Weak Lensing Cosmology and Tests of Gravity: Tensions and Prospects

Weak gravitational lensing is a powerful probe of the matter distribution in the recent Universe and thus a key probe for dark energy and gravity. I will give a status of weak lensing cosmology in ΛCDM and tests of gravity, putting the results we obtained in arxiv:2207.05766 into perspective and highlighting the current slight tensions in S8 and ∑0 with the Cosmic Microwave Background. I will then discuss ongoing progress and outlooks to complete our understanding of such tensions in the experimental landscape of the coming decade. Finally, I will show how the method we proposed in arxiv:2110.13171 can be used for the purpose of exploring solutions to the S8 tension. I will end by showing a preliminary version of an online page to centralize cosmological results and thus facilitate the visualization of cosmological tensions.

Abstract
Dan Scolnic
Duke University, USA
Thursday - August 31, 2023 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Measuring the Hubble Constant using TRGB from the CATS Team

I will present recent results from a full re-analysis of TRGB measurements in the first and second rung of the distance ladder.  I will show how the tip brightness varies across fields of the galaxies, and present a 5sigma relation between the tip brightness and the measured contrast ratio.  I will show how this relation can be used to ’standardize’ TRGB measurements, reaching a state-of-the-art dispersion across fields.  I will then talk about how we combine measurements of the TRGB in NGC 4258 with measurements in supernova hosts, and combine this with Pantheon+.  I will discuss how the resulting value is consistent with the SH0ES value of the Hubble constant, and this is partly due to the homogenous treatment of TRGB, as well as the usage of the Pantheon+ supernova catalog.  Finally, I will place this result in the context of other H0 measurements.

Abstract
Lavinia Heisenberg
Heidelberg University / ETH Zürich
Thursday - July 27, 2023 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Model-independent solution to the cosmological tensions

I will discuss the model-independent requirements for solving the H_0 and \sigma_8 tensions simultaneously.

Abstract
Brent Tully
University of Hawaii - 09:00 Hawaii time, 21:00 CET
Thursday - June 29, 2023 @ 9:00pm CET
Title: H0 from the Distance Ladder

Inconsistencies have arisen with theory based values of the Hubble constant, which fundamentally is a relation between galaxy velocities and distances.  Unfortunately, there is no single way of measuring distances over the range accessed by stellar parallaxes and the regime of cosmic expansion unconfused by peculiar motions.  Instead, there is recourse to the distance ladder.  A variety of methodologies can be laced together, each accurate within a limited domain but with substantial overlaps between techniques.   The construction of the ladder has a long and tenuous history but is reaching a fruitful conclusion.

Abstract
Shahin Sheikh-Jabbari
IPM, Tehran
Thursday - June 8, 2023 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Dipole LCDM model: Towards a realistic model building in dipole cosmology

Dipole cosmology is the maximally Copernican generalization of the FLRW paradigm that can incorporate bulk flows in the cosmic fluid. In this paper, we first discuss how multiple fluid components with independent flows can be realized in this set up. This is the necessary step to promote “tilted” Bianchi cosmologies to a viable framework for cosmological model building involving fluid mixtures (as in FLRW). We present a dipole \lcdm\ model which has radiation and matter with independent flows, with (or without) a positive cosmological constant. A remarkable feature of models containing radiation (including dipole $\Lambda$CDM) is that the relative flow between radiation and matter can increase at late times, which can contribute to eg., the CMB dipole. This can happen generically in the space of initial conditions. We discuss the significance of this observation for late time cosmic tensions.

Abstract
David Benisty
University of Cambridge, UK
Wednesday - May 24, 2023 @ 10:30am CET
Title: Dark Energy (and modified gravity) in two body problem: theoretical implications and observational constraints

General Theory of Relativity needs at least one modification – the Cosmological Constant. Yet there are possibilities for other modified theories of gravity to explain the accelerated expansion. In this talk I’m going to discuss the impact of Modified Gravity on the two-body problem. In particular, with the latest observational constraints from the galactic center and the S-stars, binary pulsars and the Milky and Andromeda dynamics.

Abstract
Mikhail Ivanov
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Monday - May 15, 2023 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Exploring Cosmological Tensions with Spectroscopic Galaxy Surveys

The distribution of galaxies on large scales is a sensitive probe of fundamental physics. In particular, the structure of this distribution depends on properties of dark matter and the dynamics of the early universe. Understanding this dependence, however, is a challenging task because the observed galaxy distribution is modulated by a variety of non-linear effects. I will present new theoretical tools that have allowed for a systematic analytic description of these effects. These tools play a central role in a new program of extracting cosmological information from large scale galaxy surveys. I will share some results of this program from several independent analyses of the public data from the Baryon acoustic Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. These results include new measurements of the Hubble constant, the growth of structure, and constrains on dark matter models. I will discuss these results with a particular emphasis on the H0 and S8 tensions.

Abstract
Eoin O Colgain
Atlantic Technological University, Sligo, Ireland
Wednesday - April 26, 2023 @ 10:30am CET
Title: Is H0 a constant in Lambda-CDM cosmology?

What happens when cosmological models break down? I will argue that the cosmological parameters, which are integration constants from the perspective of mathematics, pick up redshift dependence. This marks a fundamental clash between mathematics and observation, a conflict which forces one to either work with a unpredictive model or simply throw it away. I will provide evidence for this evolution in the Lambda-CDM model in the late Universe, the simplest setting to look for evolution. Evolution must be found if cosmological tensions are physical, otherwise one concludes that systematics are at play.

Abstract
Suhail Dhawan
Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge
Thursday - April 13, 2023 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Resolving cosmological tensions with Type Ia supernovae

The Hubble tension is arguably the biggest open question in modern cosmology. While it is the most significant signature of new cosmological physics, it is imperative to test whether unknown systematics are at play. In my talk I will summarise our recent work on developing the distance ladder with novel probes like the tip of the red giant branch to use Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the Zwicky Transient Facility for measuring the Hubble constant. 

Strong gravitational lensing is an independent channel with which SNe Ia weigh in on the tension. Since lensed SNe measure time delay distances this probe has complete independent systematics to the local distance ladder and hence, is a powerful way to measure H0. I will talk about our recent work with wide-field surveys to discover and characterise lensed SNe. 

An interlinked problem in cosmology today is the test for whether the universe is isotropic. Our recent work shows some indications for potential deviations from isotropy and forecasts suggest the exciting possibility to strongly confirm or refute this claim.

Abstract
Roy Maartens
University of Western Cape, South Africa
Wednesday - March 29, 2023 @ 10:30am CET
Title: Testing the Cosmological Principle: a new cosmic tension?

The Cosmological Principle – that the Universe is statistically isotropic and homogeneous – leads to a critical consistency test of the standard model of cosmology: the rest-frames of matter and the CMB must coincide. Estimates of the kinematic dipole in radio continuum surveys lead to an agreement in direction with the CMB dipole, but an anomalously large velocity. Recent estimates from the CATWise2020 quasar sample put this velocity tension at > 4 sigma. I highlight a fundamental theoretical systematic: the standard formula for extracting the velocity from the matter dipole is not correct. This may not resolve the tension, but the correct formula needs to be applied before a robust claim can be made.

Abstract
Thomas de Jaeger
LPNHE - IN2P3 - CNRS - Université Pierre & Marie Curie
Thursday - March 16, 2023 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Type II supernovae and the H0 tension

The most stringent local measurement of the Hubble constant from Cepheid-calibrated Type Ia supernovae differs from the value inferred via the cosmic microwave background radiation (Planck + LCDM) by more than five sigmas. This so-called “Hubble tension” has been confirmed by other independent methods and thus does not appear to be a possible consequence of systematic errors. In this talk, I will describe an independent approach to test the second and third rungs of the distance-ladder method using Type II supernovae. Finally, I will also present a method that does not require any external calibration and can be used to directly measure H0.

Abstract
Licia Verde
University of Barcelona, Spain
Wednesday - March 1, 2023 @ 9:30am CET
Title: How many h are there and what do they mean?

The current expansion rate of the Universe is captured by the so-called Hubble constant, or its dimensionless equivalent, “little h”, which is a key parameter in the, extremely successful, standard model of cosmology. 

The Hubble constant  relates measurements of the expansion history of the Universe to its components, and “little h” appears in all astrophysical quantities which measurement or calibration somewhat  depend on the background cosmology. 

There are many different ways to constrain H_0 or little h and they are fully equivalent only  within a model. I will recap different approaches to measure h and discuss what they mean  in both a model-dependent and model-independent way.

Abstract
Mike Boylan-Kolchin
The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Thursday - February 16, 2023 @ 4:00pm CET
Title: Cosmological Tensions in the JWST Era

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.

Abstract
Marika Asgari
Hull University, UK
Wednesday - February 1, 2023 @ 12:00am CET
Title: KiDS Cosmology: An early look at the legacy analysis

Probes of the large scale structures can give us the much needed insight into the nature of the dark Universe. KiDS is a purpose-built gravitational lensing survey with high quality images and a wide photometric coverage, resulting in very high fidelity data. Combining weak lensing data with other probes of the large scale structures, such as galaxy clustering, enables us to break degeneracies in cosmological parameters and control the systematics in the data. In this talk I will review KiDS results and its combinations with other surveys and discuss the prospects for the KiDS final data release and what we can expect to see.

Abstract
Patricia Diego Palazuelos
Instituto de Física de Cantabria, Santander, Spain
Saturday - January 21, 2023 @ 1:00pm CET
Title: Cosmic birefringence: searching for parity-violating physics with the polarisation of the CMB

A violation of parity symmetry in electromagnetism would rotate the polarisation of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) in an effect known as cosmic birefringence. In the past, attempts to measure isotropic cosmic birefringence have been limited by the uncertainty in the calibration of the instrument’s polarisation angle. In this talk I will present the novel methodology that allowed us to bypass that limitation by using Galactic foreground emission as our calibrator. Its application to WMAP and Planck data yields a birefringence angle of β≈0.3º, with a statistical significance of 3σ. This measurement could be explained by a Chern-Simons coupling between photons and a pseudoscalar field like those predicted by ultra-light axionlike particles or Early Dark Energy. High-precision measurements of the CMB polarisation will allow us to distinguish between these two effects, potentially shedding more light on the Hubble tension.

Abstract
Vivian Poulin
University of Montpellier, France
Wednesday - January 4, 2023 @ 1:00pm CET
Title: The Sigma-8 Tension is a Drag

Measurements of weak gravitational lensing at low redshifts (z≲0.5−1), quantified by the parameter S_8, favor weaker matter clustering than that expected from the standard ΛCDM cosmological model with parameters determined by cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements. However, the amplitude of matter clustering at higher redshifts, as probed by lensing of the CMB, is consistent with ΛCDM. This apparent paradox suggests a connection between the S_8 tension and the transition from matter to dark-energy domination. In this talk, I will show that the tension can be resolved by introducing a friction between dark matter and dark energy without altering the tightly constrained expansion history. The low-S_8 measurements favor (at ≳3σ, in this one parameter model) a non-zero drag leading to a suppression of low-redshift power right around the transition from matter to dark-energy domination.

Abstract
Dillon Brout
Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, USA
Thursday - December 15, 2022 @ 1:00pm CET
Title: Recent results from Pantheon+ and SH0ES, mapping 10 billion years of cosmic history with Type Ia Supernovae

Type Ia supernovae are a central pillar of cosmology that is vital to the adoption of the LambdaCDM “Standard Model of cosmology”. However, they may also elucidate potential gaps in the theory. I will present recent results of the distance ladder constructed from SH0ES observations of Cepheids in combination with the sample of 1550 Pantheon+ supernovae. Ruthless attention paid to systematic uncertainties and recent leaps in progress of SNIa analyses have culminated in a 1km/s/Mpc constraint of the value of the Hubble constant, which has now crossed the significant 5 sigma threshold of discrepancy when compared to that of Planck+LambdaCDM.

Abstract
Agne Semenaite
Max Planck Institute, Germany
Wednesday - December 7, 2022 @ 5:00pm CET
Title: Assessing consistency in physical parameter space with the full shape of anisotropic clustering measurements

In this talk I will discuss the results of the full shape analysis of two-point clustering measurements from BOSS galaxy sample combined with the quasar sample from eBOSS, analysed using an updated recipe for the non-linear matter power spectrum and the non-local bias parameters. I will focus on the cosmological parameters that are not defined through Hubble parameter, h, and highlight how this parameter space not only allows us to appropriately and accurately compare constraints from different probes when assessing consistency, but also enables tight constraints in the extended cosmologies with free dark energy equation of state parameter w. I will present the resulting constraints in LCDM cosmologies, as well as a number of extended models where w is allowed to vary freely and show how clustering can be complimented by external probes, namely, CMB (Planck) and weak lensing (3x2pt measurements from DES Y1).

Abstract
Dhiraj Hazra
Institute of Mathematical Sciences, India
Thursday - November 24, 2022 @ 12:00am CET
Title: One spectrum to cure them all

Acoustic peaks in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature spectrum as observed by the Planck satellite appear to be smoother than our expectation from the standard model lensing effect. This anomalous effect can be also mimicked by a spatially closed Universe with a very low value of Hubble constant that consequently aggravates the already existing discordance between cosmological observations. I will talk about a signature from the early Universe, a particular form of oscillation in the primordial spectrum of quantum fluctuations with a characteristic frequency, that solves all these anomalies. Interestingly, this form of the primordial spectrum resolves or substantially subsides, various tensions in the standard model of cosmology in fitting different observations, namely Planck CMB, clustering and weak lensing shear measurements from several large scale structure surveys, local measurements of Hubble constant, and recently estimated age of the Universe from globular clusters. I will also talk about how to generate this signature from inflation.

Abstract
Krishna Naidoo
Center for Theoretical Physics at the Polish Academy of Sciences
Wednesday - November 9, 2022 @ 12:00am CET
Title: A dark matter solution to the cosmic tensions and the ISW-void anomaly

I will discuss the role that dark matter may play in relieving tensions in cosmology and how this effect can (and may already) be measured from the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect from cosmic voids. I consider a phenomenological model of dark matter with an equation-of-state that is negative and changing at late times, a model degenerate with interacting dark matter — dark energy models. I show this couples the H0 and σ8 tensions, providing an explanation for both simultaneously, while also providing an explanation for the anomalously large integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect from cosmic voids. Observations of high ISW from cosmic voids may therefore be evidence that dark matter plays a significant role in the H0 and σ8 tensions. I predict the ISW from cosmic voids to be a factor of ~ 2 greater in this model than what is expected from the standard model ΛCDM. I will also discuss the general prospects for new-physics in cosmology and emphasise the need for new-physics solutions to tensions to be tested and validated with other anomalies and unique predictions/consequences.

Abstract
FUTURE SEMINARS