Bayesian Hierarchical Models and Applications to Supernova Type Ia Cosmology (3/4)

by Prof. Roberto Trotta (Imperial College London)

Thursday 29 Nov 2018, 10:00 → 12:00 Europe/Brussels

E/3rd floor-E.349 - Seminar room (E.349) (Marc de Hemptinne (chemin du Cyclotron, 2, Louvain-la-Neuve))

This is the third lecture of the week given by Prof Roberto Trotta, recipient of the "Chaire Georges Lemaître" for the academic year 2018-2019.

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Abstract:

Thanks to large and accurate measurements obtained in the last 2 decades, and to
sophisticated statistical analyses, cosmologists have established a "cosmological
concordance model" that reproduces well observations ranging from the relic radiation
from the Big Bang to the distribution of galaxies in the sky in the modern Universe. I will
review the observational and theoretical underpinnings of this so-called "Lambda-CDM"
concordance model of cosmology, which strongly points to the existence of both dark
matter and dark energy.
I will then focus on recent advances in supernova type Ia cosmology. Supernovae type Ia are
a type of stellar explosion that can be used as standard candles to measure extragalactic
distances, and have been instrumental in determining the accelerated expansion of the
Universe -- a smoking gun observation for the existence of dark energy. I will present recent
results and a novel, powerful (Bayesian) statistical framework for interpreting the data,
including cosmological parameter inference, selection effects and classification in the
absence of spectroscopic data. I will discuss upcoming challenges for the field as the
quantity and quality of upcoming data sets increases.

 

CGM_2018_Lecture_4.pdf