Beyond LambdaCDM: Theoretical Predictions & Observational Constraints

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。在我们对自然的理解中，两个最深的谜团是：我们宇宙的初始条件（IC）的选择，以及最近宇宙的加速，归因于暗能量（DE）。PI建议在一个扩展传统方法的新框架内研究这两个突出的问题，该框架使用观察分析来指导这些现象，并为该计划的可测试预测提供指导。PI的方法与传统方法的根本区别在于，它建议在多元宇宙框架中使用引力和物质场度的量子动力学来选择IC并提取景观的宇宙学含义。PI主张，有意义地解决这个问题的唯一方法是将我们的研究扩展到一个多元宇宙框架。这个建议是解决为什么我们的宇宙必须从高能大爆炸开始这个谜题的一种方法，同时避免了以前的尝试所产生的悖论。这种方法还提供了大量可测试的预测，通过超视界纠缠模式进行追踪，从而使其成为集成电路科学理论的有力候选者。其中三个预测已经成功地得到了测试，最近的测试是NASA在2008年9月发现的“暗流”。研究的另一个主题涉及这个难题：什么是暗能量？目前，最好的方法是通过观测找到测量其压力和状态方程w[z]的方法。虽然在社区中被列为最高优先事项，但迄今为止，这种衡量被证明是困难的。PI提出了一种补充方法，即使用来自SBH双星的引力波来确定w。这种方法可以非常强大，因为它避免了信号中从信号传播的巨大结构中继承的噪声。除了补充目前的大规模调查之外，这种方法的好处是我们可以立即开始收集数据，并利用现有的和计划中的LIGO和LISA实验。该项目有许多更广泛的影响。PI通过在国内和国际上发表一系列演讲，并与媒体交谈，以帮助更广泛的受众接触到前沿研究，从而分享她的研究成果。与Brian Greene和J.Khoury一起，PI发起并共同组织了一系列关于这些突出主题的会议，“宇宙学辩论”，这不仅意味着通过汇集该领域的权威来刺激进步和突破，而且还意味着通过在线视频摄像机传播知识。她还与人合编了一本关于时间之箭（NYAS）的书，并与人合写了b施普林格“前沿”系列的特邀章节，旨在向公众传播前沿研究。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The two deepest mysteries in our understanding of nature are: the selection of the initial conditions (IC) of our universe, and the recent acceleration of the universe, attributed to dark energy (DE). The PI proposes to study both of these outstanding problems, within a new framework that extends the conventional approach and which uses observational analysis for guidance on these phenomena and for the testable predictions of the program. The radical departure of the PI's approach from the conventional approach is that it proposes to use the quantum dynamics of the gravitational and matter fields degrees of, in a multiverse framework, for selecting the IC and for extracting the cosmological implications of the landscape. The PI advocates that the only way to address the problem meaningfully is by extending our investigation to a multiverse framework. This proposal is one way resolving the puzzle of why our universe had to start with High Energy Big Bang, while avoiding paradoxes born out of previous attempts. This approach also offers a multitude of testable predictions, tracked down by superhorizon entanglement modes, thereby placing it as a strong candidate for a scientific theory of IC. Three of these predictions are already successfully tested, with the most recent test being the NASA discovery of a "dark flow" in Sept.2008. Another topic of research concerns the puzzle: what is Dark Energy? Currently, the best way to tell is by observationally finding ways to measure its pressure and equation of state w[z].Although ranked among the highest priorities in the community, this measurement has proven difficult so far. The PI proposes a complementary method, namely the use of Gravitational Waves from SBH binaries for pinning down w. This method can be quite powerful since it avoids the noise in the signal that is inherited from the vastness of structure through which the signal propagates. Besides complementing current large-scale surveys, the benefit of this method is that we can start taking data immediately and make use of existing and planned LIGO and LISA experiments. The project has many broader impacts. The PI shares the excitement of her research by giving a series of talks nationally and internationally, and by talking to media in order to help make cutting edge research accessible to a wider audience. Together with Brian Greene and J.Khoury, the PI has initiated and is co-organizing a series of conferences, "A Debate in Cosmology", on these outstanding topics, meant not only to stimulate progress and breakthroughs by bringing together authorities in the field, but also for disseminating knowledge by having online video-cams of the talks. She is also co-editing a book on Time's Arrow (NYAS) and co-authoring invited chapters for Springer's "Frontier" collection meant to disseminate cutting edge research to the general public.