Fundamental Physics and Observational Cosmology

Lead Research Organisation: University of Cambridge
Department Name: Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics

Abstract

We aim to advance the confrontation between observational cosmology and fundamental physics by developing testable signatures of early universe theories which are of direct relevance to STFC-supported satellite and other experiments, such as Planck and Clover. This work entails making detailed quantitative observational predictions which can be used to distinguish between different inflation models, as well as those involving cosmic superstrings and textures. In particular, we wish to study cosmologies emerging from higher dimensional models in fundamental theory, and discover ways in which to differentiate these from conventional four-dimensional models. We will also use data from the late universe to develop probes of the cosmological constant, dark energy and the variation of the fundamental constants of nature. In addition, we will embark on a new project in gravitational physics, studying the existence, formation and consequences of black holes. We will consider the distinctive signatures of extra dimensions which the experimental study of black holes may be able to uncover.

Publications

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Farley (2008) Relic radiation from an evaporating black hole in INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MODERN PHYSICS D

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Farley (2007) Bogoliubov transformations in black-hole evaporation in INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MODERN PHYSICS D

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FARLEY A (2012) QUANTUM AMPLITUDES IN BLACK-HOLE EVAPORATION: COMPLEX APPROACH AND SPIN-0 AMPLITUDE in International Journal of Modern Physics D

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Fergusson J (2012) The CMB bispectrum in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

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Fergusson J (2009) Shape of primordial non-Gaussianity and the CMB bispectrum in Physical Review D

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Fergusson J (2014) Efficient optimal non-Gaussian CMB estimators with polarization in Physical Review D

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Fergusson, J. R.; Regan, D. M. & Shellard, E. P. S. (2010) Optimal Trispectrum Estimators and WMAP Constraints

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Funakoshi H (2013) A modal approach to the numerical calculation of primordial non-Gaussianities in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

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Germani C (2008) Matching WMAP 3-year results with the cosmological Slingshot primordial spectrum in General Relativity and Gravitation

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Gibbons G (2010) Traffic noise and the hyperbolic plane in Annals of Physics

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Gibbons G (2010) Dark energy and projective symmetry in Physics Letters B

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Gibbons G (2011) Nonexistence of Skyrmion-Skyrmion and Skyrmion-anti-Skyrmion static equilibria in Journal of Mathematical Physics

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Gibbons G (2009) Measures on mixing angles in Physical Review D

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Gibbons G (2011) Some spacetimes with higher rank Killing-Stäckel tensors in Physics Letters B

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Gibbons G (2008) The Petrov and Kaigorodov-Ozsváth solutions: spacetime as a group manifold in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Gibbons G (2009) Universal properties of the near-horizon optical geometry in Physical Review D

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Gibbons G (2009) Deformed general relativity and torsion in Classical and Quantum Gravity

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Gibbons G (2011) The geometry of sound rays in a wind in Contemporary Physics