24–28 Aug 2026
Leiden University
Europe/Zurich timezone

Testing the equivalence principle in galaxy surveys: a matter of time and two fluids

Not scheduled
20m
Gorlaeus gebouw (Leiden University)

Gorlaeus gebouw

Leiden University

Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden
Talk Dark Energy / Modified Gravity

Speaker

Sveva Castello (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics)

Description

Does dark matter experience gravity in the same way as ordinary matter? By throwing different objects from the Pisa tower, Galileo showed that they were all subject to the same acceleration, hence providing a demonstration of the so-called weak equivalence principle. However, the validity of this principle for dark matter remains a key open question, which is rarely addressed in cosmological analyses. In my talk, I will present two complementary approaches to answer this question in galaxy surveys. The first one relies on gravitational redshift, a consequence of the distortion of time in a gravitational potential, while the second one is based on a two-fluid description of ordinary and dark matter. I will show that these methods provide crucial information to constrain deviations from the equivalence principle and to distinguish between gravity modifications and non-standard dark matter scenarios. Hence, repeating Galileo’s experiment across the Universe might literally be a matter of time and two fluids.

Author

Sveva Castello (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.