Stefano Profumo (University of California, Santa Cruz, and Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics)
The Primordial Black Holes Variations
Friday, October 4th, 2024, 11:30am – Stasi lecture room (ICTP) & streaming
Abstract. In the era of gravitational wave astronomy and direct black hole imaging, the possibility that some of the black holes in the universe have a primordial, rather than stellar, origin, and that they might be a non-negligible fraction of the cosmological dark matter, is both timely and intriguing. I will review the status of the field, describe search strategies and future prospects for detection across many decades in black hole mass, discuss how light primordial black holes could seed both baryonic and particle dark matter in the very early universe, and comment on how the search for primordial black holes may lead to a deeper understanding of the elusive Galactic “rogue planets”.
Contact: Piero Ullio
Video
Kazuya Koyama (University of Portsmouth)
Observational probes of dark energy and modified gravity models
Friday, September 13th, 2024, 11:30am – Aula D (old SISSA building) & streaming
Abstract. The discovery of the accelerated expansion of the Universe has come relatively late in our study of the cosmos, but in showing that gravity can act repulsively, it has opened up many new questions about the nature of gravity and what the Universe might contain. Is the acceleration being driven by dark energy? Or is general relativity itself in error, requiring a modification at large scales to account for the late acceleration? Structure formation in our Universe can be different even if the geometry of the homogeneous and isotropic universe is the same in these two classes of models, offering a possibility to distinguish between them observationally. I will discuss cosmological tests of dark energy and modified gravity models using latest cosmological observations.
Contact: Emilio Bellini
Video
Erminia Calabrese (Cardiff University)
Cosmology in the era of Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization
Friday, September 6th, 2024, 11:30am – Aula D (old SISSA building) & streaming
Abstract. We discuss the opportunities for cosmology in light of the start of the Stage III+ CMB observations, targeting primordial gravitational waves and lensing. We highlight the near and far future objectives, describing the opportunities for combining CMB probes, in this and the next decade, with Large Scale Structure surveys.
Contact: Carlo Baccigalupi
Video – Slides