A Discussion on the Cosmological Principle


With the growing significance of cosmological tensions, most notably Hubble tension, "precision cosmology" appears to have hit a speed bump. If the tensions are not due to experimental systematics, then we may be staring at contradictions that challenge the bedrock of cosmology. In this meeting, building on existing evidence that the cosmological principle or FLRW paradigm may be to blame, we gather international experts to debate the assumption that the Universe is isotropic & homogeneous. Audience participation will be actively encouraged through frequent discussion (Q&A) sessions. We hope the meeting may serve as an instructive bellwether for where the cosmology community currently stands on the FLRW assumption.


Invited Speakers

Pravabati Chingangbam (Indian Institute of Astrophysics)

Chris Clarkson (Queen Mary London)

Roger Clowes & Alexia Lopez (University of Central Lancashire)

Tamara Davis (University of Queensland)

Ruth Durrer (Université de Genève)

Asta Heinesen (Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon)

Dragan Huterer (University of Michigan)

Damien Hutsemékers (University of Liège)

Chethan Krishnan (Indian Institute of Science)

Roy Maartens (University of the Western Cape)

Konstantinos Migkas (Universität Bonn)

David Parkinson (Korea Astronomy & Space Science Institute)

Miguel Quartin (Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro)

Wahidur Rahman (Imperial College London)

Subir Sarkar (University of Oxford)

Dominik Schwarz (Universität Bielefeld)

Douglas Scott (University of British Columbia)

Nathan Secrest (US Naval Observatory)

Hee-Jong Seo (Ohio University)

Ashok Kumar Singal (Physical Research Lab. Ahmedabad)

George Smoot (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

Jiro Soda (Kobe University)

Alexei Starobinsky (Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics)

Christos Tsagas (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

Shao-Jiang Wang (Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing)

David Wiltshire (University of Canterbury)

Lu Yin (Sogang University)

Wen Zhao (University of Science and Technology of China)

Dates and Venue

25 - 28 October, 2021

Online (zoom) and on-site, Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, Pohang, South Korea

No registration fee

Talks are by invitation only

Registration is now closed


Scientific Organising Committee

Stephen Appleby (APCTP)

Eoin Ó Colgáin (CQUEST)

Shahin Sheikh-Jabbari (IPM, Tehran)

Sang Pyo Kim (Kunsan Ntl. U.)

Rong-Gen Cai (Beijing Inst. Th. Phys.)

Misao Sasaki (YITP, IPMU)

James Jee (Yonsei Univ.)

Jun'Ichi Yokoyama (Univ. of Tokyo)

Ming-Chung Chu (The Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong)

Chiang-Mei Chen (Ntl. Central Univ. Taiwan)

Contact : Stephen Appleby - stephen.appleby[at]apctp.org