CosmoBrainstorm 2026

Contribution List

5. Illuminating the Local Universe: Large-Scale Structure from ZTF Type Ia Supernovae

Antoine Gilles Lordet (Stockholm University / Oskar Klein Center)

24/04/2026, 10:05

Talks

Large-scale structure in the nearby Universe is traditionally traced by galaxies and clusters, but wide-field time-domain surveys now allow Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) to serve as an additional probe of the cosmic web. Using the second Type Ia supernova data release from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), I show that SNe Ia exhibit significant spatial clustering, with overdensities closely...

6. The Nature of Dark Matter with Dwarf Galaxies

Claudia Muni (Stockholm University)

24/04/2026, 10:20

Talks

Dwarf galaxies can serve as powerful probes of the nature of dark matter, but this requires a robust understanding of how baryonic feedback reshapes their dark matter halos. The stellar-to-halo mass ratio is often treated as the primary parameter governing feedback-driven core formation in cold dark matter halos. Using the state-of-the-art EDGE simulations of dwarf galaxies, I will show that...

3. Gamma Rays and Dark Matter: Status and Prospects

Milena Crnogorcevic (Stockholm University)

24/04/2026, 10:35

Talks

I will review the current status of gamma-ray searches for dark matter, highlighting how space-based observations have opened a powerful window onto particle interactions in astrophysical environments. I will discuss key results from wide-field gamma-ray surveys of targets such as dwarf spheroidal galaxies and the Galactic Center, and how these have shaped constraints on both WIMP and non-WIMP...

4. Gravity beyond a single metric: Ghost-free interactions of spin-2 fields

Joakim Flinckman (Stockholm University)

24/04/2026, 10:50

Talks

Some of the most pressing open questions in modern physics, such as dark matter, dark energy, and the Hubble tension, point towards the gravitational sector, making it natural to explore alternative formulations of gravity rather than only modifying the Standard Model matter sector. Both General Relativity and the Standard Model admit formulations in terms of fields of fixed mass and spin....

1. Magnetic fields as a probe of the first microseconds

Axel Brandenburg (Stockholm University, Nordita)

24/04/2026, 11:20

Talks

The primordial magnetic field can be traced in an evolutionary diagram of comoving magnetic field strength versus comoving length scale, where it follows a characteristic path. Relating the start- and endpoints to each other is an important theoretical accomplishment. At the same time, observational constraints in radio and gamma ray frequencies begin to narrow down the allowed parameter space...

7. A dilaton induced first order QCD phase transition and phenomenology of axion relic pockets

Charalampos Nikolis (Stockholm University)

24/04/2026, 11:35

Talks

We show that a `QCD dilaton' field, whose vacuum expectation value sets the strong coupling, can render the Quantum Chromodynamic (QCD) confinement transition first-order. The QCD dilaton is cosmologically attracted to a false vacuum at weak coupling in the early universe. Quantum tunnelling towards the true vacuum triggers prompt chiral symmetry breaking and confinement of QCD, leading to...

2. Phase transitions and topological defects

Aleksandr Chatrchyan (Stockholm University)

24/04/2026, 11:50

Talks

Phase transitions play an important role in cosmology. In this talk I will explore the interplay between first-order phase transitions and topological defects. I will also discuss how late-time symmetry-restoring transitions can generate gravitational waves, relevant for pulsar timing arrays, and at the same time impact the Hubble tension.

8. Quantum metasurfaces as probes of vacuum particle content

Germain Tobar (Stockholm University)

24/04/2026, 12:05

Talks

The quantum vacuum of the electromagnetic field is inherently entangled across distinct spatial sub-regions resulting in entangled particle content across these sub-regions. Such particle content underlies vacuum particle creation studied in many cosmological settings such as Unruh and Hawking radiation. Here we propose to measure this particle content with a quantum mirror made from a...