Beyond \LambdaCDM: Theoretical Predictions and Observational Constraints

这项建议要求支持宇宙学和粒子物理学之间接口的研究计划。PI感兴趣的是发展理论思想来解释宇宙学中的主要问题，特别是暗能量问题，同时，使用来自WMAP等天文台的宇宙学数据来约束宇宙学和粒子物理学模型。在这个提议中要追求的具体主题包括暗能量的新模型和弦理论景观的宇宙学研究。PI和她的合作者是第一个推导出暗能量状态方程的上限和下限的人，这项工作被高度引用和影响。该提议的更广泛的影响包括粒子物理学和宇宙学之间的强烈相互作用，以及理论和观测数据之间的相互作用。将努力进行宣传，让更多的学生和外行人了解这一令人兴奋的科学，这一科学一直引起公众的兴趣和想象力。

This proposal requests support for a program of research at the interface between cosmology and particle physics. The PI is interested in both developing theoretical ideas to explain major problems in cosmology, especially the problem of dark energy, and, at the same time, using cosmological data from observatories like WMAP to constrain models of cosmology and particle physics. Among the specific topics to be pursued in this proposal are a new model for dark energy and cosmological studies of the string theory landscape. The PI and her collaborators were the first to derive upper and lower bounds on the equation of state for dark energy, and this work has been highly cited and influential. The broader impacts of the proposal include the strong interplay between particle physics and cosmology, and between theory and observational data. Outreach efforts will be made to inform a larger public of students and lay persons about this exciting science which has always caught the public interest and imagination.