Collaborative Research: New Avenues to Cosmic Acceleration

合作研究：宇宙加速的新途径

• 批准号: 1812961
• 负责人: Dragan Huterer
• 金额: $ 17.21万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-01 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1812961&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; New; Avenues; Cosmic

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.

该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实现，其中包括星系团簇、微波背景中的热点和冷点以及星系对光的弯曲（引力透镜），以改善我们的观测。了解当前加速时期的机制。该项目将侧重于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。该计划成功的重要因素是外展部分，该部分将与雪城大学的 SUPA 计划相协调。外展活动将包括向当地高中生传达我们的结果，并更广泛地改进整个纽约州及其他地区的科学课程。暗能量 (DE) 宇宙学探测器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的根本机制的理解的理论进展要小得多。随着宇宙学测量的准确性不断提高，建立一种经济且系统的方法来使用数据来指导揭示 DE 本质的理论工作至关重要。 DE 的有效场论（EFT）提供了这样的方法。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 DE 模型的一般属性将 DE 模型分为通用类。这种方法类似于粒子物理和凝聚态物质中 EFT 方法的使用，在理论和实验的联系上非常成功。 该项目将重点开发 DE 的 EFT，以确定 EFT 框架是否足够强大，能够为 DE 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，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 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力评估进行评估，被认为值得支持。优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。