Theory Seminar, Alex Cole
| When: | Tu 17-12-2019 12:00 - 13:00 |
| Where: | FSE-Building 5111.0135 |
Title:
Simplices in the Sky: Constraining Cosmology with Computational Topology
Abstract:
In this talk, I will describe how persistent homology, a somewhat recent development in computational topology and the main pillar of Topological Data Analysis (TDA), is a useful tool for characterizing cosmological observables in the search for new physics.
After motivating the utility of developing new perspectives for analyzing cosmological data, I will review the basics of persistent homology. I will then describe how persistent homology connects to several topological statistics that have appeared previously in the cosmology literature, and how it is strictly more powerful than these statistics.
To see how much mileage our improved method gives us, I will outline two applications of persistent homology to cosmology: one project with G. Shiu on primordial non-Gaussianity and the CMB (1712.08159), and work in progress with G. Shiu and M. Biagetti regarding LSS.