SB/BNL Joint Cosmo seminar

The standard paradigm of cosmology is built upon on a series of hypotheses on how the early, the intermediate and the late-time universe behaves. Within this framework, six cosmological parameters need to be constrained, and they have been measured accurately by surveys that probe the Cosmic Microwave Background and the Large-Scale Structure. In this talk, I propose a program to investigate degeneracies between uncertainties on the early and intermediate universe and inferences on cosmic acceleration - broadening phenomenological investigations beyond probing $\Lambda$CDM parameters with higher precision - with space missions in the 2020s in combination with ground-based observatories. I will commence the analysis on how Type IA supernova and weak lensing can be combined to test paradigms of cosmic acceleration, and how different strategies can affect this goal (e.g., the redshift range of the supernova survey depends on how unusual we consider the universe to be at $1 < z < 3$). In addition to research on the WFIRST mission, my short-term investigations on how inflation and reionization affect CMB inferences on dark energy (and vice-versa) will support NASA on how future space missions can be used to test some of the core hypotheses of the standard model.