Wednesday Colloquium



27.01.2021

"Non-Riemannian signatures and nature of gravity"

Krzysztof Bolejko (University of Tasmania, Australia)

Einstein's theory of gravity, General Relativity was built on the theory of Special Relativity. This generalisation required utilising the full generality of the Riemannian geometry. Many of the present-day cosmological tests of GR are still based on the assumption of the Riemannian geometry. However, to fully study and test various extensions of GR one is also required to move beyond the Riemannian geometry. In my talk I will focuses on light propagation and discuss what signatures in cosmological observational data could point to non-Riemannian effects. I will focus on "litmus test" type signatures that are only present in non-Riemannian geometries, thus providing a model-independent way of testing GR on cosmological scales. This talk will not be a comprehensive review of the issue - it will only focus on the distance and redshift relations. I will discuss observational constraints and talk how future surveys could provide a better insight into the underlying geometry of our Universe.