Collaborative Research: New Avenues to Cosmic Acceleration

这个项目将包括对暗能量本质的理论研究——暗能量是导致宇宙加速膨胀的因素。这将通过基本粒子物理理论的双重工具，以及宇宙学观测来完成，其中包括星系团，微波背景中的热点和冷点，以及星系的光弯曲（引力透镜），以提高我们对当前加速期的机制的认识。该项目将专注于对数据进行进一步的压力测试，以寻找宇宙加速的任何替代理论解释的证据，包括对广义相对论的修正。该项目成功的重要因素是外展部分，这将与雪城大学的SUPA项目协调。推广活动将包括向当地高中生传达我们的结果，并更广泛地改善整个纽约州及其他地区的科学课程。宇宙暗能量探测器（DE）的数据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潜在机制的理解的理论进展则要温和得多。随着宇宙测量精度的不断提高，建立一种经济而系统的方法来使用数据来指导理论工作，以揭示DE的本质是至关重要的。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根据它们的一般属性将DE模型分组为通用类。这种方法类似于在粒子物理和凝聚态物质中使用的EFT方法，在理论和实验的联系方面非常成功。该项目将专注于发展DE的EFT，以确定EFT框架是否足够稳健，从而为DE的研究提供统一的方法。在实践方面，研究人员将努力建立EFT的参数化，以最适合弥合基础理论和宇宙学观测之间的差距。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.