Workshop Goals & Scope: The focus of the workshop is on possible non-standard expansion histories (involving early-matter-dominated eras, periods of kination, periods of cosmological stasis, etc.) and their observable effects in the late universe. These might include, for example, implications for dark-matter physics (such as the production of compact mini-halos or the opening up of regions of dark-matter parameter space that might be ruled out in the standard cosmology but which might lead to distinctive annihilation or decay signals), implications for the gravitational-wave background, or implications for CMB observables. The goal is to bring together people working on different aspects of non-standard cosmological histories with the hope that our collective interactions/discussions might spark new ideas about how to probe the first few seconds of the history of the universe and help broaden our perspectives on how modifications of the cosmological expansion history might manifest themselves observationally.
Dates: September 5th -7th, 2024 (Thu. - Sat.)
Location: Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), University of Pittsburgh
Workshop Venue: Forbes Ballroom, Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh University Place, 3454 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Program Committee: Keith Dienes, Brooks Thomas, Scott Watson.
Local Organizing Committee: Brian Batell, Amit Bhoonah, Kun Cheng, Matthew Low, Zahra Tabrizi.
Administrator: Joni George
Confirmed Invited Participants:
Rouzbeh Allahverdi (New Mexico University)
Mustafa Amin (Rice University)
Kim Boddy (University of Texas at Austin)
Sten Delos (Carnegie Institute Observatories)
Adrienne Erickcek (North Carolina University)
Akshay Ghalsasi (Harvard University)
Tom Giblin (Kenyon College)
Jim Halverson (Northeastern University)
Fei Huang (Weizmann Institute of Science)
Andrew Long (Rice University)
Lauren Pearce (James Madison University)
Barmak Shams Es Haghi (University of Texas at Austin)
Jesse Shelton (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Gary Shiu (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Kuver Sinha (University of Oklahoma)
Tristan Smith (Swarthmore College)
Keith Dienes (University of Arizona / National Science Foundation)
Brooks Thomas (Lafayette College)
Scott Watson (Syracuse University)
