Workshop on Cosmological Tests of Gravity at Oxford, 14 Mar 2013

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Levon Pogosian
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Joined: September 25 2004
Affiliation: Simon Fraser University
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Workshop on Cosmological Tests of Gravity at Oxford, 14 Mar

Post by Levon Pogosian » December 05 2012

Date: 14 Mar 2013 - 9:00am - 15 Mar 2013 - 5:00pm
Venue: Martin Wood Complex, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU
Room: Martin Wood Lecture Theatre
https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/events/20 ... of-gravity

The Beecroft Institute of Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at the University of Oxford is hosting two single day workshops on the 14th and 15th of March, 2013. The first one will be on "Cosmological Tests of Gravity" and the goal is to discuss recent progress and remaining issues in developing theoretical frameworks for probing gravitational physics with upcoming cosmological surveys.

The questions we wish to address include:

What models should we be looking at?
How much do we believe current forecasts?
What aspect of GR will we actually constrain from cosmological tests?
Is there a better, more physically meaningful and accurate parameter than "gamma" (the growth rate exponent)?
Do we need a "Figure of Merit"?
How limited are we to using linear scales?
Do we trust non-linear results (either numerical or analytical) yet?
Can tests of GR be independent of cosmology?

There will be no plenary talks and a minimal amount of introduction into the topics. Instead, the format will favour discussions based on short talks by the experts for the experts focused on the open problems and proposals for addressing them.

The workshop on the first day is organized by: Pedro Ferreira, Kazuya Koyama, Levon Pogosian, and Constantinos Skordis.

The second day will be a Euclid joint meeting between the Theory Working Group and the Cosmological Simulations Working Group on the implementation of non-standard cosmological models into N-body codes. It is therefore of particular interest for the "Task 6" work package of the Euclid Cosmological Simulations Working Group.

The detailed agenda will be circulated later on, but the main goals of the meeting are:

Establish a common language and reciprocal knowledge between the Theory and Cosmological Simulations WGs to allow more fruitful collaborations;
Allow a more open discussion on the mid-term and long-term milestones of the CSWG "Task 6", also taking into account inputs from Theory WG members; Present the "Memorandum of codes" (a ~2 pages summary of the theoretical scope and of the technical implementation of non-standard N-body codes) prepared by all the groups involved in the activities of "Task 6", as a quick reference for both Simulations and Theory group members;
Discuss open issues and unsolved problems in the connection between theoretical models and N-body codes (along the lines of what will be done on the the Thursday meeting for Modified Gravity theories); Present latest results (if any) in the field of nonlinear dynamics in non-standard cosmologies; Set up a formal agreement for code-comparison initiatives among the groups participating in "Task 6".

The workshop on the second day is organized by: Marco Baldi, Kazuya Koyama, Luca Amendola, Pedro Ferreira, Pablo Fosalba, Martin Kunz.

Both of the workshops will be held at the Martin Wood lecture theatre, at the Department of Physics. The Beecroft Institute will supply lunches and coffees but will not cover any travel or accommodation expenses. Registration will be free but, given space constraints, must be done before the 28th of February on http://www.doodle.com/656anid7zsvqvyrc.

For more information contact:
"Cosmological Tests of Gravity" workshop - [Log in to view email]
Euclid workshop - [Log in to view email]

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