Astrophysics

The first structures of particle dark matter form by gravitationally condensing out of the smooth mass distribution of the early universe. This formation mechanism leaves these "prompt cusps" with uniquely compact r^-1.5 density profiles and links...

Established in 1954, the “Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire” or “CERN” has been the leading European laboratory for accelerator-based studies of the fundamental particles and their interactions.  CERN has hosted several large particle...

Virialized clusters and super-clusters of galaxies, which reside in massive dark matter halos, are the most rare objects in our Universe but contain most of its matter. As such, obtaining accurate measures of large cluster masses will put tight...

Abstract: A remarkable feature of general relativity is the presence of spacetime singularities. One of the central aims of a complete theory of (quantum) gravity is to resolve these singularities. In this talk, I will describe ongoing work—building...

Neutron stars born with magnetic fields greater than 1014 G (“magnetars”) are common in the Galaxy. Approximately 10 - 50% of the young neutron star population possesses such field strengths. These objects exhibit very slow rotation, spectacular...

The JWST, with its 6.5 m hexagonal mirror and its 4 infrared instruments, has yielded remarkable surprises. The first galaxies are brighter and hotter than expected, and they aren’t round, but are elongated into bananas and cigars. Galaxies and even...

Abstract: Massive neutrinos suppress the growth of cosmic structure on small, non-linear, scales. There is thus much interest in using statistics beyond the power spectrum to tighten constraints on the neutrino mass by extracting additional...

Abstract: Black hole horizons have been a mystery for more than a hundred years. What if they do not exist? Black shells are horizonless black hole mimickers inspired by string theory. The lecture introduces the physics of black shells as well as...