Investigating physical aspects beyond the standard model linked to the themes of dark energy, modified gravity, neutrinos and gravitational waves

Abstract

The search for observational and experimental evidence for physics beyond the minimum standard model (cosmological model $\Lambda$CDM and particle physics) has been of great interest and intense research in recent years. This project has as main aim to investigate physical aspects beyond the minimum standard model related to dark energy, modified gravity, neutrinos and gravitational waves. Our aim lies in the interface between theory and observation. Thus, we will investigate the observational viability and search for such physical aspects linked to these topics in cosmological and astrophysical data, using robust and accurate statistical methods. For this purpose, we will use mainly cosmic microwave background (CMB) data obtained for the Planck satellite and large scale struture (LSS) data, as well as the already well-known the geometric data (type Ia supernovae, baryonic acoustic oscillations, expansion rate of the Universe, among others) in possible joint analyzes with CMB and LSS data. We will also investigate these topics using simulation (forecasting) of CMB and LSS data based on future experiments such as CMB-S4, CMB-CORE and Euclid. In the scope of gravitational waves, we will be interested as modifications in general relativity may modify the propagation of tensor modes in an expanding Universe and investigate such consequences and its limits on CMB data (current data and forecasts based on future experiments). We expect to obtain strong and precise observational boundaries linked to the major themes of physical interest beyond the standard model described in this project.