Today and tomorrow I am visiting the beautiful city of Zurich. I was invited by Jaiyul Yoo to give a seminar (“Seven hints that early-time new physics alone is not sufficient to solve the Hubble tension”, slides here) at the Department of Astrophysics of the University of Zurich, and I will also be paying a quick visit to ETH, mostly to catch up with my former student Alex Reeves. It has been a very interesting and productive visit so far, and I learned a lot about what one could call using the umbrella term of “relativistic effects” in galaxy surveys, the study of which is something where Jaiyul’s group is probably one of the leading groups in the world. Non-scientific highlights included a fantastic Spanish dinner, and a very enjoyable drive through the Alps!
Visit to Ferrara
Yesterday and today I enjoyed visiting the INFN Ferrara division, where I gave a talk on “Searching for dark energy off the beaten track” (slides here). I really enjoyed these two days, especially since I got to catch up with three long-term collaborators but especially friends of mine: Martina Gerbino (who was the postdoc following my day-to-day work during my PhD, and without whose help I certainly wouldn’t be in my position today!), Massimiliano (Massi) Lattanzi, and Thejs Brinckmann. The Ferrara cosmology group led by Paolo Natoli is really fantastic: young, dynamic, talented, diverse, and with a wide range of interests! If Padova is currently the best place for cosmology in Italy, I have no doubts that Ferrara is definitely one of the top places to look out for in the near future (but let’s hope to put Trento on the list soon!), especially in light of Martina’s ERC Starting Grant and the group’s commendable strategy of investing in very young people. Non-scientific highlights included tasting salama, a delicious local specialty, which I highly recommend trying if you get the chance!
Two recent talks and a visit to Padova
I gave two talks on my works recently, a first one at RWTH Aachen (in the local cosmology plus astroparticle journal club, on my seven hints paper), and a second one at the University of Padova (on “Searching for dark energy off the beaten track”, slides here). The seminar in Padova was actually my first in-person seminar in nearly 4 years, after years of Zoom seminars. It was very nice to visit Padova after many years, and interact with what is probably one of the best (and biggest) cosmology groups in Italy. Both talks were followed by lively discussions which left lots of food for thought (and projects).