Opendata, web and dolomites

Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - GLOBE (Global Lensing Observations to go Beyond Einstein)

Teaser

Exquisite observations of the early universe have provided the strongest evidence yet that the universe we live in is very dark indeed. But a far-reaching question remains: what is the exact nature of this dark universe? It is widely believed that in order to answer this...

Summary

Exquisite observations of the early universe have provided the strongest evidence yet that the universe we live in is very dark indeed. But a far-reaching question remains: what is the exact nature of this dark universe? It is widely believed that in order to answer this profound question, we will need to invoke some new physics that will forever change our cosmic view.

With my ERC research group, I am confronting a potentially radical new theory that has been steadily growing in favour over the past few years. Our inference that today’s Universe is filled with an invisible web of dark matter and a source of dark energy that is fueling the accelerated expansion of the Universe, could just be a consequence of our poor understanding of gravity. Using three state-of-the-art astronomical surveys, I am conducting a ground-breaking gravity experiment on some of the largest scales observed in the Universe. Our findings could show that we need to go beyond Einstein to bring about a revolution in our understanding of gravity on cosmological scales, transforming our view of the dark universe.

Work performed

I co-lead the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS), a high priority European survey that observes the night sky in only the very best weather conditions at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. Our most recent highlight from this truely exquisite data set, charted the growth of dark matter structures over time, directly testing models for how dark energy has evolved (Hildebrandt, Viola & Heymans* et al. 2017, over 300 citations).

Our analysis found that the distribution of dark matter today was not as ‘clumpy’ or ‘condensed’ as expected based on our knowledge of the Universe right after the Big Bang. Taken at face-value, our result points towards a rather exotic evolving dark energy model or a modified gravity theory, but we need to collect more data before we can robustly draw this conclusion. Our publication presenting this result is currently the most highly cited astronomy paper that has been published in 2017.

This paper is just one out of 26 different publications from our project this reporting period, that range between detailed technical and instrument studies, through to developments in statistical theoretical physics. It is this broad range of skills and abilities that our team covers that will enable our long-term goal to test gravity on cosmological scales.

Final results

Our ERC team is devoted to promoting the public’s understanding of my research, with a recent focus on reaching audiences who wouldn’t normally attend a science event.  During this reporting period I have presented our ERC funded research to public audiences in a wide range of sold-out shows including a debate on “Darkness” with artists and architects at the Tate Modern Art Gallery in London, a debate on “Other Worlds” at the Philosophy and Music Festival in Hay on Wye, an evening talk at the BBVA Foundation in Madrid and numerous appearances in Science Festivals and Radio shows. To provide a quantitative view on the impact these events have made, I note that my BBVA presentation was recorded and published on YouTube only 2 months ago. It has already been viewed in Spanish and English by over 1500 people. The ERC team also participates in public events within Scotland. As an example Giblin took part in a number of exhibits demonstrating gravitational lensing to the public at our local Science Museum Dynamic Earth.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.roe.ac.uk/.