Colloquium on Oct. 31th, 2019

Cosmological and Astrophysical probes of Gravity Theories beyond General Relativity

Speaker: David Mota (Univsersity of Oslo)

Venue: Room 2111, SWIFAR Building

Time: 3:00 PM, Thursday, 31th October, 2019

Abstract: 

Several modifications to general relativity have been proposed with the aim to explain the nature of dark energy and the accelerated expansion of the Universe. In this talk I will review the present status of modified theories of gravity in the light of astrophysical probes of gravity in the weak-field regime, ranging from stars to cosmological scales.  I begin by setting the scene for how theories beyond General Relativity are expected to behave in the different astrophysical systems, as well as their cosmological signatures. 

With these in hand, I present a range of observational tests with an eye to using the current and next generation of observations for tests of gravity. In particular, I will show how physical observables of the non-linear regime of structure formation are promising probes to constraining theoretical models in the nonlinear dynamics of stars, galaxies, clusters and large scale structure.