Cosmology Rolling Grant: Case for Renewal
Lead Research Organisation:
Lancaster University
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
In 2008 the world's most powerful probe of fundamental physics, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator at CERN, will begin operation. In the same year the European Space Agency will launch the Planck satellite observatory, which will observe the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) in unprecedented detail. From these two experimental programmes there is the exciting prospect of epoch-making breakthroughs in our understanding of the fundamental theory of particles and forces and of the 'seed' density perturbations from which galaxies and larger cosmological structures grow. The fusion of these new discoveries could shed light on the identity of dark matter, which constitutes 25% of the matter in the Universe, the mystery of the gravity-repelling 'dark energy' which makes up 70% of the Universe, the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry (why the Universe is made of protons and not anti-protons) and the nature of the very earliest epoch in the history of the Universe, known as Inflation, during which the seed perturbations for galaxy formation are created. Particle cosmology, as it is known, directly addresses these fundamental questions from the point of view of theoretical particle physics. Its primary goal is to construct a consistent history of the Universe from its earliest epoch. Particle cosmology also provides a testing ground for new particle physics theories, using the hot Big Bang as an extremely powerful particle accelerator from which important constraints on new theories can be deduced. The ambitious five year research programme of the proposal will seek to exploit the new discoveries from LHC and Planck to gain deep insights into the history of the Universe. The programme will address all the major themes in modern particle cosmology. Objectives of the programme include: the nature of dark matter; the connection between Inflation and LHC experiments; the development of particle theories of Inflation and the origin of galaxy seeds; the study of unconventional 'non-Gaussian' signatures in the cosmic microwave background; the origin of magnetic fields of the size of a galaxy, which may originate during the Inflation era; the connection between string theory and dark energy. Through insights gained from particle cosmology, the programme will seek to suggest new experimental targets for LHC experiments and new features in the CMB to be studied by Planck.
Organisations
Publications
Dimopoulos K
(2010)
Vector curvaton without instabilities
in Physics Letters B
Dimopoulos K
(2009)
Where galaxies really come from
in Contemporary Physics
Dimopoulos K
(2010)
Vector curvaton with varying kinetic function
in Physical Review D
Ferrantelli A
(2010)
Cosmological evolution of scalar fields and gravitino dark matter in gauge mediation at low reheating temperatures
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Fujita Y
(2009)
Is the PAMELA anomaly caused by supernova explosions near the Earth?
in Physical Review D
Kohri K
(2010)
Cosmic ray anomalies and dark matter annihilation to muons via a Higgs portal hidden sector
in Physical Review D
Lerner R
(2009)
Gauge singlet scalar as inflaton and thermal relic dark matter
in Physical Review D
McDonald J
(2009)
keV warm dark matter via the supersymmetric Higgs portal
in Physical Review D
McDonald J
(2009)
Enhanced dark matter annihilation rate for positron and electron excesses from Q-ball decay.
in Physical review letters
Valenzuela-Toledo C
(2009)
Non-Gaussianity at tree and one-loop levels from vector field perturbations
in Physical Review D