Princeton University/Institute for Advanced Study Early Universe/Cosmology Lunch Discussion

Considerable effort in cosmology today is focused on understanding the statistical nature and evolution of the (dark matter) density field that underlies the observed large-scale structure. Information about this field is mostly phrased in terms of two-point statistics, such as the power spectrum of galaxies or weak lensing, essentially approximating the large-scale structure as a Gaussian random field. However, the Universe is far more complex than that: Gravitational collapse turns the simple initial conditions into the cosmic web consisting of halos, filaments and large voids we see today. In my talk, I will show how we can use the abundance of galaxy clusters residing in the the 'knots' of the cosmic web to probe the non-Gaussian shape of the density field. This gives us insights into the physics of structure formation, and provides at the same time a new method to search for deviations from the cosmological standard model.Organizers are Jo Dunkley, Princeton University, and Matias Zaldarriaga, Institute for Advanced Study. The lunch will be held either at Princeton University or the Institute for Advanced Study. Check the calendar for the meeting location. This week's meeting is at Princeton University. Attendees can bring lunch.