Gravity seminar - Michael Kenna-Allison [NOTE UNUSUAL TIME: 13:00] Seminar

Abstract: The origin of the late-time acceleration of the universe is one of the biggest questions in cosmology. We give the name dark energy to the substance which is responsible for this, highlighting our ignorance on its origin. The most widely accepted explanation is that of the cosmological constant. However, the naturalness of the cosmological constant, and the theoretical inconsistency with the value expected from quantum field theory, poses a question over whether this is the true explanation of the late-time acceleration. In this talk we investigate models of massive gravity, which arise from modifying Einstein's theory of General Relativity by hypothesising the graviton has a non-zero mass. We will see that to tackle the late-time acceleration problem, massive gravity offers a natural explanation and exhibits interesting and testable phenomenology, whilst also recovering General Relativity on small scales.

 

Talk slides