Friends of the RAS (only) Lecture: Cosmology with Kilo-Degree Surve y (KiDS)

Start Date
End Date
Cosmology with KiDSDr Benjamin Joachimi, University College London Cosmology is entering a golden era of large-scale structure surveys, with weak gravitational lensing as a primary probe to uncover the properties of dark matter and dark energy. Focussing on the on-going Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) at Paranal, I will illustrate the challenges of these measurements and highlight current constraints on the cosmological model. I will provide an overview on the low-level tension found between measurements of large-scale structure, the cosmic microwave background, and the expansion history, which is hotly debated in the community at the moment. Finally, I will give a brief introduction to the next generation of weak lensing surveys and what we can expect from them. Dr Benjamin Joachimi obtained his PhD at the University of Bonn in Germany in 2010. He went on to research positions at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh and University College London, where he is now a Reader. Dr Joachimi is an STFC Rutherford Fellow and received the RAS Winton Award in 2014. He investigates the cosmic large-scale structure via the distribution of galaxies and the weak gravitational lensing effect, scrutinising the cosmological standard model and gaining new insights into the physics of distant galaxies.
Website: www.ras.org.uk
Website: www.ras.org.uk