Physical cosmology

Branch of cosmology which studies mathematical models of the universe

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We include updates on Big Bang, Universe, Expansion of the universe, Dark matter, Observable universe, Multiverse, Cosmic microwave background, Great Attractor, Ultimate fate of the universe, Dark energy, Boltzmann brain, Chronology of the universe, Age of the universe, Redshift, Hubble's law, Anthropic principle ... and more.

2025
Polarization
NASA has selected the COSI telescope for launch to continue polarization research in astronomical observations.
2025
Observable universe
MoM-z14 is identified as the most distant astronomical object, classified as a galaxy with a redshift of 14.44.
2025
Phantom dark energy
DESI research revealed evidence of stronger universal acceleration in the past, suggesting the potential presence of phantom dark energy in the early universe.
2025
Gruber Prize in Cosmology
Ryan Cooke and Max Pettini awarded the Gruber Prize in Cosmology
April 2025
Giant Arc
Lopez and her research team refute Sawala's claim by demonstrating that enhanced cosmological simulations do not actually predict structures the size of the Giant Arc.
2025
Michael Friedman
Passed away while still a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
March 26 2025
Michael Friedman
Michael Friedman passed away, concluding his distinguished career in philosophy of science and continental philosophy.
March 2025
Phantom energy
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration published a survey on baryon acoustic oscillations, finding violations of the Lambda-CDM cosmological model within 4 standard deviations. The survey suggested stronger universal acceleration in the early universe, potentially indicating the presence of phantom energy.
March 2025
Dark energy
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration announced evidence for evolving dark energy by analyzing baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) data combined with CMB, weak lensing, and supernovae datasets. The results suggest a slow decrease in dark energy density over time, with statistical significance ranging from 2.8 to 4.2σ.
March 2025
Black hole cosmology
A scientific paper was published presenting research on the rotational characteristics of early galaxies, finding that approximately two-thirds of a sample of over 200 early galaxies spin clockwise, which statistically deviates from the expected distribution of about 50%.
February 2025
Giant Arc
A team led by Dr. Till Sawala from the University of Helsinki argues that the Giant Arc does not contradict the cosmological principle, claiming that similar-sized structures were predicted in their cosmological simulations.
2024
Polarization
The POLAR-2 gamma-ray burst polarimeter is scheduled for launch to conduct advanced polarization studies of gamma-ray bursts.
2024
Gruber Prize in Cosmology
Marcia J. Rieke awarded the Gruber Prize in Cosmology
2024
Michael Friedman
Elected as an honorary member of the International Academy of Philosophy of Science (AIPS).
2024
Largest cosmic structures
Big Ring was discovered, a cosmic structure made up of galaxy clusters spanning 1.3 billion light-years.
2024
Dwarf galaxy problem
Discoveries indicate that the number of satellite galaxies around the Milky Way might be around 500, challenging previous simulations that predicted fewer galaxies.
2024
Dwarf galaxy problem
Construction of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is completed, which is expected to conduct wide field surveys to help scientists better understand the dwarf galaxy problem through future sky observations.
2023
Redshift
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey published its fifth data release, continuing its extensive mapping of galaxies and quasars.
2023
Gruber Prize in Cosmology
Richard Ellis awarded the Gruber Prize in Cosmology
2023
Largest cosmic structures
Ho'oleilana Bubble was identified, containing about 56,000 galaxies and located 820 million light-years away, spanning 1 billion light-years.
2023
Cosmological theories
Astrophysicists questioned the Standard Model of Cosmology based on latest James Webb Space Telescope studies, challenging the current understanding of the universe.
August 2023
Chronology of the universe
James Webb Space Telescope reported images of black holes and related matter in the very early universe, providing new insights into cosmic reionization.
June 28 2023
Gravitational wave background
North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves collaboration announced evidence for a Gravitational Wave Background (GWB), with supporting observations from EPTA, Parkes Observatory, and Chinese Pulsar Timing Array (CPTA). This provided the first measurement of the Hellings-Downs curve, a key indicator of gravitational wave origin.
February 2023
Dark energy
Researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa formulated a new theory proposing that black holes gain mass as the universe expands, potentially explaining dark energy through a concept called 'cosmological coupling'.
2022
Zero-energy universe
Paul Sen published 'Einstein's Fridge', which includes discussions about singularities and the metaphorical comparison of gravitational phenomena to drain holes.
2022
Gruber Prize in Cosmology
Frank Eisenhauer awarded the Gruber Prize in Cosmology
2022
False vacuum
Reanalysis of 2016 LHC run data yielded a revised top quark mass measurement of 171.77 GeV, remaining in the metastable zone but close to the vacuum stability line.
2022
Largest cosmic structures
King Ghidorah Supercluster was discovered, the most massive galaxy supercluster to date, consisting of at least 15 clusters and interconnected filaments.
2022
Dwarf galaxy problem
Density profile studies suggested that dwarf galaxies have a constant-density core, which contradicts dark matter simulations that predicted lower baryon density.
December 2022
Intracluster medium
The James Webb Space Telescope began studying the faint light emitted in the intracluster medium, advancing our understanding of its properties and composition.
2021
Holmdel Horn Antenna
The Holmdel Township Committee agreed to purchase $5.5 million worth of land, including the Horn Antenna site, with plans to convert it into a public park.
2021
Holmdel Horn Antenna
Community groups circulated a petition that gathered over 8,000 signatures supporting the preservation of the Horn Antenna site.
2021
Holmdel Horn Antenna
The Crawford Hill site was sold to a developer interested in building a residential development, which prompted a 'Save Holmdel's Horn Antenna' preservation petition.
2021
Observable universe
An international research team led by Roland Bacon from the Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon (France) reported the first observation of diffuse extended Lyman-alpha emission tracing cosmic web filaments on scales of 2.5−4 comoving mega-parsecs in filamentary environments outside massive structures.
2021
Observable universe
The American Astronomical Society announced the detection of the Giant Arc, a crescent-shaped string of galaxies spanning 3.3 billion light-years, located 9.2 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Boötes.
2021
Gruber Prize in Cosmology
Marc Kamionkowski, Uroš Seljak, and Matias Zaldarriaga awarded the Gruber Prize in Cosmology
2021
False vacuum
A paper by Rostislav Konoplich and others postulated that the area between large black holes on the verge of colliding could provide conditions to create bubbles of 'true vacuum', with intersecting surfaces potentially forming micro-black holes that would evaporate by emitting Hawking radiation.
2021
Largest cosmic structures
The 'Giant Arc' was discovered, located 9.2 billion light-years away and spanning 3.3 billion light-years.
2021
Dark energy
A group of researchers argued that observations of the Hubble tension may imply that only quintessence models with a nonzero coupling constant are viable.
2021
Cosmological constant problem
Nikita Blinov and Patrick Draper confirm through the holographic principle that the CKN bound predicts the measured cosmological constant while maintaining effective field theory predictions.
2021
Cosmological theories
James Webb Space Telescope was launched, providing new capabilities for advanced cosmological observations.
December 2021
Polarization
The IXPE telescope was launched, enabling polarization measurements in the 2–8 KeV band and confirming theoretical predictions about X-ray radiation polarization from magnetar sources.
December 2021
Chronology of the universe
James Webb Space Telescope is launched, designed to detect objects up to 100 times fainter than Hubble and observe as far back as redshift z≈20 (about 180 million years cosmic time).
July 2021
Universe
LiveScience published an article stating there are approximately 10^82 atoms in the observable universe, providing a quantitative perspective on the universe's scale.
July 2021
Universe
LiveScience reported that there are approximately 1082 atoms in the observable universe, providing a significant insight into the scale of cosmic matter.
June 2021
Giant Arc
Alexia M. Lopez and her team discover the Giant Arc, a massive structure spanning 3.3 billion light years, using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and a novel method of identifying large-scale structures through Mg II absorption lines in background quasars.
2020
Gruber Prize in Cosmology
Lars Hernquist and Volker Springel awarded the Gruber Prize in Cosmology
2020 A measurement of a unique MOND (Modified Newtonian Dynamics) effect was recorded, offering another alternative explanation to dark matter.

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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Dwarf galaxy problem, Timeline of cosmological theories, Gravitational wave background, Intracluster medium, List of largest cosmic structures, Phantom energy, Zero-energy universe, Dark energy, Dark matter, Polarization (cosmology), Black hole cosmology, False vacuum, Observable universe, Giant Arc, Universe, Holmdel Horn Antenna, Redshift, Cosmological constant problem, Gruber Prize in Cosmology, Chronology of the universe, Michael Friedman (philosopher), Creatio ex nihilo & Phantom dark energy, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

See Also