Dr. Constantinos Skordis

My primary field of research is cosmology and gravitation. I am particularly interested in the role gravity plays at various scales: from the smallest laboratory scales to those of the whole Universe. I have worked and published on the physics behind the observed cosmic acceleration using theoretical models based on scalar fields, commonly called dark energy. In my work, I frequently use numerical techniques and Bayesian inference to test theoretical and phenomenological models with data and write codes to compute observables such as the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background and large-scale distribution of matter in the Universe. I have constructed parametrized cosmological tests of gravity with my collaborators at Oxford University and published a widely used survey of theories and gravitational systems linking tests of gravity on small scales with cosmology. In the last few years, I have written several papers on probing the nature of dark matter, determining its properties on cosmological scales and its possible couplings with dark energy fields. Most of my recent research interests have been in constructing extensions of general relativity to account for cosmic acceleration or as an alternative to the otherwise implied missing mass in the Universe. In our 2021 PRL article with Tom Zlosnik, we were the first to show that it is possible to extend general relativity to simultaneously interpret the dynamics of individual galaxies and fit cosmic microwave background spectra without particle dark matter. Our article received Editor's suggestion as Focus article.

Besides my specialisms - cosmology and gravity, I am also interested in links with particle and quantum field theory, effective field theory, statistical physics and kinetic theory, astrophysics and hydrodynamics. I am particularly keen in investigating new tools for cosmology based on forward Bayesian modelling and deep learning. 

I am the PI of the project FORTE: Fundamental constituents of matter through frontier technologies funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic. I also hold a Royal Society Wolfson visiting fellowship for the project Testing the properties of dark matter with new statistical tools and cosmological data which enables me a cumulative 12-month collaborative visit the astrophysics subdepartment, University of Oxford within Mar. 2024 - Mar. 2026. I'm also a Senior Visiting fellow at Linacre College, University of Oxford, for the Michaelmas terms 2024 and Trinity and Michaelmas terms 2025.

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