Modified Gravity: An Alternative to Dark Matter

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Most people working in simulations right now are working within the dark matter paradigm. It's been a very predictive paradigm, and to me that makes it a very attractive thing to work on. But of course what we want to do is compare that idea with something like modifying gravity,. Do you and the people you hang out with doing these simulations take modified gravity seriously as an alternative to dark matter? Well, yeah, I mean, we do. However, we don't work on it ourselves. We're saying we have finite resources we have finite time. This seems like a better line of inquiry until we actually find dark matter in the lab.

It's somewhat amazing that cosmology, the study of the universe as a whole, can make any progress at all. But it has, especially so in recent decades. Partly that's because nature has been kind to us in some ways: the universe is quite a simple place on large scales and at early times. Another reason is a leap forward in the data we have collected, and in the growing use of a powerful tool: computer simulations. I talk with cosmologist Andrew Pontzen on what we know about the universe, and how simulations have helped us figure it out. We also touch on hot topics in cosmology (early galaxies discovered by JWST) as well as philosophical issues (are simulations data or theory?).

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Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/06/19/240-andrew-pontz…and-the-universe/

Andrew Pontzen received his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Cambridge. He is currently Professor of Cosmology at University College London. In addition to his research in cosmology, he frequently writes popular articles and appears in science documentaries. His new book is The Universe in a Box: Simulations and the Quest to Code the Cosmos.

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