Colloquium by Ben Wandelt, CCA
Cosmologists strive to uncover the mysteries of the origin, composition, evolution, and fate of the cosmos from all the information the sky has to offer: the cosmic microwave background, galaxy surveys, exploding stars, and reverberations of space-time caused by colliding black holes and neutron stars. I will discuss new ways to connect cosmological theory and simulation with these data sets. Novel cosmological tests promise insights to classical cosmological questions; and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning are revolutionizing our ability to confront computational models with data, enabling end-to-end, quantitative Bayesian reasoning for problems that were previously deemed intractable. Very recently, AI has even begun to inspire novel cosmological insights. I will discuss the current status, promises, and challenges and outline a path towards achieving the goals of reconstructing the detailed initial conditions of the universe at its cosmic beginning, understanding the formation of cosmic structures, and probing the nature of dark matter and dark energy much more completely than ever before.
Followed by wine and cheese.
Host: Greg Bryan