Real-Time Cosmology: Using Extragalactic Proper Motions to Make Dynamical Cosmological Tests, to Measure Geometric Distances, and to Detect Primordial Gravitational Waves

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The goal of this program is to use very small motions of distant galaxies and quasars to test cosmology, measure geometric distances, and detect gravitational waves. Broader impacts of the work include training of undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, Dr. Darling will participate in Colorado's Fiske Planetarium live lecture series using the Science on a Sphere (SOS) exhibit that will enable communication of the broad ideas of cosmology, relativity, and other current research to the general public.The proper motion measurements will be obtained from geodetic monitoring, the Gaia mission, and original observations at radio frequencies using Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). They can provide cosmological tests that are nearly model-independent. This work can measure or constrain: (1) The real-time growth and recession of structures, providing mass and distance measurements, (2) Extragalactic parallax for a statistical sample and individual galaxies, thus providing geometric distances, (3) The primordial stochastic long-period gravitational wave background and (4) Cosmic shear, rotation, bulk motion, and local voids that may manifest as an apparent acceleration attributed to dark energy.