Gravity impacts all stages of the evolution of the universe, but the precise role of fundamental gravity in modeling cosmology remains to be understood. Current cosmological tensions may be related to an incomplete or oversimplified treatment of gravity and spacetime in the ΛCDM model, and highlight the need for quantifying the influence of initial conditions, local effects of gravity and backreaction beyond a perturbative analysis on FLRW backgrounds.
Recent advances in numerical and analytical methods and a wealth of astrophysical precision data allow for new, systematic studies of the interplay of matter, geometry and inflationary expansion, and open new pathways for a model-independent analysis. Research that exploits the interwovenness of gravity and cosmology includes the proposed use of gravitational wave observations to elucidate the extreme physics of the early universe, and of cosmological probes to constrain modified gravity theories. The big underlying challenge – besides unraveling the complexities of the history of our universe and the nature of its initial big-bang singularity – is to come up with clear evidence for new (quantum) physics beyond general relativity and the standard model of particle physics.
Gravity & Cosmology: Searching for Concordance brings together researchers working on different aspects of the cosmology-gravity interface, who may not necessarily meet at more specialized, subcommunity-oriented events, to exchange views on what are the most feasible and promising ways forward and explore how they relate to each other. Our keynote speakers are leading experts on numerical and mathematical relativity, modified gravity, quantum cosmology, cosmography, gravitational wave cosmology, cosmological tensions, backreaction and phase transitions, and on foundational aspects. We aim for an interactive meeting and for constructive and respectful dialogue, including organized discussions on future challenges and opportunities. We invite the submission of abstracts for contributed talks and posters and encourage especially junior researcher to participate.
Confirmed Invited Speakers
- Martin Bojowald (Penn State)
- Chris Clarkson (Queen Mary)
- Ed Copeland (Nottingham)
- Eleonora Di Valentino (Sheffield)
- Ruth Durrer (Geneva)
- Grigorios Fournodavlos (Crete)
- Mark Hindmarsh (Helsinki)
- Alexander Kamenshchik (Bologna)
- Sofie Marie Koksbang (Odense)
- Marek Lewicki (Warsaw)
- Eugene Lim (King’s College)
- David Mota (Oslo)
- Nataliya Porayko (Bonn) – tbc
- Zoe Wyatt (Cambridge)
Location and Venue
The location of the conference is in Stavanger, located on the coast in south-western part of Norway. Western part of Norway is famous for its spectacular fjords, and the Stavanger region is particularly known for its Pulpit Rock situated at the Lysefjord, see conference picture.
Stavanger has coastal climate being a result of being by the relatively temperate North Sea. The city typically experience mild winters and cool summers, and the average day temperature in June is around 15ºC.
The venue for the conference is at the University of Stavanger (UiS), campus Ullandhaug, which is just a couple of kilometers from the city centre, and 7km from Stavanger Airport. There are direct flights to Stavanger from several European cities like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London, Frankfurt and Helsinki.