Speaker
Leonardo Giani
Description
Does the Universe look the same everywhere? Are we living in a special place?
These questions have intrigued laypeople and philosophers alike for centuries, but for the first time, astronomers are in the position of addressing them quantitatively. Existing state-of-the-art maps of the Universe around us, combined with an upcoming wealth of observational data, compel us to seek a deeper understanding of our cosmic neighbourhood, its origin and its future. In this talk, I will review the latest theoretical efforts in the quest for "the metric of the local Universe" and demonstrate how cosmic flows in our cosmic environment offer perhaps the best tools to unveil the intricate geometry of our local spacetime.
