Collaborative Research: New Avenues to Cosmic Acceleration

该项目将包括对暗能量性质的理论研究-导致宇宙加速膨胀的因素。 这将通过基本粒子物理学理论的两个工具来完成，沿着宇宙学观测，包括星系团、微波背景中的热点和冷点以及星系对光的弯曲（引力透镜），以提高我们对造成当前加速期的机制的认识。该项目将重点对数据进行进一步的压力测试，以寻找宇宙加速的替代理论解释的任何证据，包括对广义相对论的修改。该计划的成功重要的是一个外展组成部分，这将与锡拉丘兹大学的SUPA计划协调。我们将把我们的研究结果传达给当地的高中生，并更广泛地改善整个纽约州及其他地区的科学课程。暗能量（DE）宇宙探测数据的质量继续以令人印象深刻的速度增长，而我们对宇宙加速背后的潜在机制的理解的理论进展要温和得多。随着宇宙学测量精度的不断提高，建立一种经济而系统的方法来利用数据指导理论工作以揭示DE的性质是至关重要的。 DE的有效场论（EFT）提供了这样一种方法。通过关注不同DE模型的基本对称性，而不是特定模型实现的细节，EFT将DE模型分组为基于其一般属性的通用类。这种方法类似于在粒子物理学和凝聚态物质中使用EFT方法，它在连接理论和实验方面非常成功。 该项目将重点开发DE的EFT，以确定EFT框架是否足够强大，可以为DE的研究提供统一的方法。 在实践方面，研究人员将致力于建立一个最适合弥合基础理论和宇宙学观测之间差距的EFT参数化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This project will consist of a theoretical investigation into the nature of dark energy - the agent that causes the accelerated expansion of the universe. This will be accomplished through the twin tools of fundamental particle-physics theory, along with cosmological observations, which include galaxy clustering, the hot and cold spots in the microwave background, and the bending of light by galaxies (gravitational lensing), to improve our knowledge of the mechanism responsible for the current period of acceleration. The project will focus on providing a further stress test of the data to search for any evidence of alternative theoretical explanations for the cosmic acceleration, including modifications of the General Theory of Relativity. Important to the success of this program is an outreach component, which will be coordinated with the SUPA program at Syracuse University. The outreach will include communicating our results to local high school students and more broadly to improving the science curriculum throughout the state of NY and beyond.The quality of data from cosmological probes of Dark Energy (DE) continues to grow at an impressive rate, whereas theoretical progress in our understanding of the underlying mechanism behind cosmic acceleration has been far more modest. As the accuracy of cosmological measurements continues to improve it is crucial to establish an economic and systematic way in which to use data to guide theoretical efforts to reveal the nature of DE. The Effective Field Theory (EFT) of DE provides such an approach. By focusing on the fundamental symmetries of different DE models, rather than the details of a particular model realization, the EFT groups DE models into universal classes based on their general properties. This approach is analogous to the use of EFT methods in particle physics and condensed matter, where it has been very successful in connecting theory and experiment. This project will focus on developing the EFT of DE to establish whether the EFT framework is robust enough to provide a uniform approach to the study of DE. On the practical side, the investigators will work to establish a parameterization of the EFT that is best suited for bridging the gap between fundamental theory and cosmological observations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.