As part of the COSMOLOGY@MALTA 2019 Internal Research Grant, the Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy has been conducting research on new descriptions of gravity to gain a better understanding about the evolution of the Universe using recent data releases by the European Space Agency’s Planck Mission.

This work entails the use of machine learning techniques which can provide novel statistical approaches for exploring new physical theories in addition to frontier physics. These new avenues of research are crucial to providing better descriptions of our cosmological history from the big bang which are both coherent with astrophysics and testable in the next generation of observatories.

Together with researchers from Durham University, University of Glasgow, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Yangzhou University and University of Tartu a recent topical review (arXiv:2106.13793) was featured in the New Scientist . 

This work is the culmination of years of concerted research efforts involving significant work locally as well as throughout the network of collaborators. Through these projects, Malta is increasingly taking part in European and international cosmology projects. The local team working on this project include, Dr Jurgen Mifsud who is a postdoctoral researcher, as well as postgraduate students Gabriel Farrugia and Viktor Gakis, and Dr Jackson Levi Said.