Observing the initial conditions of the universe with photometric surveys.

• Grant number: 23/07640-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: November 01, 2023
• End date: October 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics
• Principal Investigator: Nathan Jacob Berkovits
• Grantee: Walter Esteban Riquelme Chamblas
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/14335-0 - ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research: a regional center for Theoretical Physics, AP.ESP

Abstract

Cosmological surveys have proven helpful when describing the properties of the universe. They have been able to constrain the nature of its constituents and test its evolution with high precision. A pending task for future surveys is to shed light on the universe's initial conditions. The project aims to use data from photometric surveys, such as the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the future Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, to extract the properties of the initial conditions of the universe. Cosmic inflation predicts statistical properties for the initial seeds that could still live within the large-scale structures (LSS) we see today. Different inflation models predict that the initial fluctuations could have a beyond Gaussian distribution. This property is known as Primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG). We will use summary statistics, such as the correlation function, to measure the amount of Primordial non-Gaussianity imprinted in the galaxies we see today. Observational systematics and uncertainties of the photometry of galaxies could impact the constraints of PNG. The project also involves assessing the impact of different aspects of photometric data in this measurement.