Objective
The most pressing questions in cosmology and fundamental physics today are the physical nature of dark matter, dark energy, and cosmic inflation. In the proposal, we explore an entirely new approach to elucidate their nature: a violation of parity symmetry, the symmetry of a physical system under inversion of spatial coordinates. We will use the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) to probe the parity violation. If the physics behind dark matter and dark energy breaks parity symmetry, their coupling to photons rotates the plane of linear polarization as the CMB photons have traveled for 14 billion years. This effect is known as ``cosmic birefringence''. The PI's team has reported a tantalizing hint of a signal with a 3 sigma statistical significance using CMB data from the WMAP and Planck missions. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration also reported a hint of the signal. Taken together, there is 4 sigma evidence for cosmic birefringence. Although it is not yet 5 sigma, the time is ripe for dedicated studies of cosmological parity violation. We describe our coherent research program to jointly analyze existing and upcoming data to improve measurements (WP1) and to study the origin of cosmic birefringence (WP2). If the physics behind cosmic inflation also breaks the parity symmetry, the primordial gravitational waves could become ``chiral'' and only one of the circular polarization states of the gravitational waves is excited. This will leave imprints not only on the CMB but also on direct detection experiments of gravitational waves. The PI's team has developed numerical simulations of cosmic inflation, which will be used to study the consequences of chiral gravitational waves for the CMB and gravitational wave experiments (WP3). The discovery of cosmological parity violation is a clear sign of new physics and will have a revolutionary impact on cosmology and fundamental physics. The aforementioned signals make this research timely.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy observational astronomy gravitational waves
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics photons
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-ADG
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80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
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