Thesis

Unveiling the Dark Side of the Universe

• Call:

  IDPASC Portugal - PHD Programme 2015

• Academic Year:

  2015 / 2016

• Domains:

  Cosmology | Astroparticle Physics

• Supervisor:

  Pedro Avelino

• Co-Supervisor:

• Institution:

  Universidade do Porto

• Host Institution:

  Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto

• Abstract:

  Unveiling the nature of dark matter and dark energy, the main constituents of the Universe, is one of the most ambitious challenges of fundamental physics. The main goal of this project is to provide a contribution towards this major objective through the parameterization, characterization and constraining of coupled dark matter/dark energy models. This project contemplates both theoretical and numerical tasks, including the computation of the cosmological implications of coupled dark matter/dark energy models taking into account nonlinear back reaction effects. Numerical simulations and semi-analytical methods will be employed in the modeling of the dark matter/dark energy interaction both at microscopic and macroscopic levels. State of the art cosmological observations, using type Ia supernovae, large scale clustering (including baryon acoustic oscillations), cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization anisotropies, and weak lensing, will be used to constrain the parameter space of coupled dark matter/dark energy scenarios. Forecasts of the results to be obtained with future missions, such as EUCLID and ESPRESSO, will also be performed.