Talks

Gravitational forces from the largest structures in the Universe leave a detectable imprint on galaxies and their local environment. I will present a new approach to tracing the tidal field using these correlations: the intrinsic alignment of small groups of galaxies, or "multipelts". Multiplets mostly consist of 2-4 galaxies within 1 Mpc/h of each other, and we measure their orientations relative to the galaxy-traced tidal field. Using spectroscopic redshfits from the DESI Y1 survey, we detect intrinsic alignment out to projected separations of 100 Mpc/h and beyond redshift 1. We find a simillar signal regardless of galaxy luminosity or color, which could make multiplet alignment a useful tool for mapping the direction of the tidal field and any cosmological effects which impact it. Our detection demonstrates that galaxy clustering in the non-linear regime of structure formation preserves an interpretable memory of the large-scale tidal field. 

This class is an introduction to the 2-species competitive Lotka-Volterra model. We will cover three canonical outcomes--coexistence, dominance and bistability-- for the pairwise competition between species. We will also use the model to predict co-culture's responses to different perturbations, and see how these predictions were experimentally verified in microcosms.

In these lectures, I discuss how GWs are produced by cosmological phase transitions. We start by a short recap of gravitational waves and then move to early attempts using pairs of bubbles and the envelope approximation. Next we cover the energy budget of phase transitions and the impact of sound waves. Finally I comment on recent developments.
 

Area metrics define generalized geometric backgrounds to describe spacetime. They are suggested at various places in classical field theory and arise within different approaches to quantum gravity. On these grounds, after introducing the notion of an area metric, I will consider covariant area-metric actions to second order in fluctuations and derivatives. I will then show how these give rise to effective length-metric actions with a distinct nonlocal Weyl-curvature squared term beyond general relativity. Finally, I will point out possible implications and routes for phenomenology.