Seminar "Bayesian Hierarchical Models and Applications to Supernova Type Ia Cosmology" @ SISSA

[Quantitative Life Sciences]

> Thursday April 11, 4 pm, room 005, SISSA via Bonomea 265
> APP seminar by Roberto Trotta (Imperial College)
>
> Title: Bayesian Hierarchical Models and Applications to Supernova Type 
> Ia Cosmology
>
> 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
> 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.
>


Erica Sarnataro
Group Secretary
Quantitative Life Sciences
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
Trieste,  Italy
Tel. +39-040-2240623
www.ictp.it/research/qls.aspx
e-mail: qls at ictp.it