GeoGrav: Cosmological Geometry and Gravity with non-linear physics

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Luca Amendola
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy ; Nuclear and Elementary Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, Fields
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 554679582

Cosmology has seen a tremendous development in recent years, driven by high quality data from the cosmic microwave background, large-scale structure, and distance indicators. Nevertheless, several fundamental questions about our Universe are still open: What are the properties of dark energy? Is the Universe spatially flat? Is gravity Einsteinian at all scales and epochs? Often these questions are addressed within restricted classes of models, e.g. simple extensions of ΛCDM with inflationary initial conditions. In this case, the results will unavoidably depend on the model assumption. In a recent series of papers, we have shown how to reach accurate and precise cosmological conclusions regardless of assumptions about the evolution of the background, the initial conditions, the linear perturbations, and the bias functions. In this project we aim at the next logical step: apply our methodology to the real data that will be soon provided by Euclid and other surveys. The ultimate goal of GeoGrav is to measure geometry and gravity at cosmological scales in a way that is both precise (high statistical significance) and accurate (weakly dependent on cosmological assumptions).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Brazil, Italy, Switzerland
• Cooperation Partners: Professorin Dr. Camille Bonvin; Dr. Marco Marinucci; Professor Dr. Massimo Pietroni; Professor Dr. Miguel Quartin