Science in the spotlight
On this page, each story presents recent research from PPGCosmo/UFES in accessible language. The idea is to start from scientific papers published by the program and turn them into science stories: what is the question, how did the researchers investigate it, what did they find, and why does it matter?
Initial version: the images are marked as
DRAFT, and the stories can be developed from each paper.
How can we calculate quantum effects in cosmology more efficiently?
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How can gravitational waves test theories of gravity?
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Can the Universe transition between different phases of expansion?
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Ultracompact stars: how far can gravity compress a star?
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How can we deal with the infinities of quantum gravity?
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Can cosmic collisions produce ultra-high-energy particles?
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What can quantum physics reveal about the gravitational potential?
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What can extreme magnetic fields reveal about neutron stars?
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Can cosmological signals reveal clues about the physics of the early Universe?
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How do radio-galaxy jets accelerate particles?
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What if gravity had a structure similar to intermolecular forces?
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Can low-frequency gravitational waves reveal a new theory of gravity?
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What do supernovae and the cosmic background radiation tell us about the geometry of the Universe?
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What can thermodynamics teach us about gravity?
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When do the usual tools of cosmology break down?
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Can the standard cosmological model emerge naturally from General Relativity?
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Why does the cosmological constant remain one of the great mysteries of physics?
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Can dark energy change its behavior over time?
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How can hypothetical particles leave imprints on the early Universe?
How can we make the study of the Universe faster?
Modern galaxy surveys are collecting enormous amounts of information about where galaxies are located across the Universe. Scientists can use these observations to test ideas about how the Universe evolved, but comparing theoretical models with such large datasets requires many complex calculations. If those calculations take too long, exploring different possibilities about the Universe becomes much more difficult.
In this work, the researchers developed neckar, a new public computer code that can perform these calculations both quickly and accurately. The code includes improvements that make it possible to reuse parts of the calculation, correct important effects, and extend reliable predictions to scales where the distribution of matter becomes more complex. The result is a tool that can be up to 100 times faster than similar existing codes, while also improving accuracy. This could make it easier to extract information about the Universe from present and future galaxy surveys, especially in analyses that need to explore many possible cosmological models.
About the paper
Authors: Harder, Tjark et al.
Original title: A novel, fast, and accurate code for cosmological loop calculations
Paper: arXiv:2610.03466
How can gravitational waves test theories of gravity?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: da Silva Barbosa, Felipe A. et al.
Original title: Fisher and DALI posterior approximations for testing gravity with gravitational waves
Paper: 2609.38399
Can the Universe transition between different phases of expansion?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Zhao, Yifei et al.
Original title: AdS - de Sitter transition in interacting dark energy models
Paper: 2609.38422
Ultracompact stars: how far can gravity compress a star?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Hassan Puttasiddappa, Prajwal et al.
Original title: Ultracompact anisotropic stars and gravastars in general relativity
Paper: 2608.10991
How can we deal with the infinities of quantum gravity?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Buchbinder, Ioseph L. et al.
Original title: On the Renormalization in Conformal Quantum Gravity
Paper: 2608.09858
Can cosmic collisions produce ultra-high-energy particles?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Coimbra-Araujo, Carlos H. et al.
Original title: Ultra-high-energy particle production in binary mergers endowed with magnetic fields
Paper: 2607.21385
What can quantum physics reveal about the gravitational potential?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Fecchio, Riccardo et al.
Original title: Trace anomaly, effective approach, and gravitational potential
Paper: 2605.05903
What can extreme magnetic fields reveal about neutron stars?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Porto, Gabriel A. et al.
Original title: Nonlinear Electrodynamics in Magnetars: Systematic Effects on Radius Constraints and Timing Analysis
Paper: 2605.17048
Can cosmological signals reveal clues about the physics of the early Universe?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Ferreira, Matheus C. et al.
Original title: Non-relativistic cosmological collider signals
Paper: 2605.20102
How do radio-galaxy jets accelerate particles?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Cardoso, André F.S. et al.
Original title: FR0 radio galaxy jets – I. Linking jet dynamics and high-energy emission in LEDA 55267 and LEDA 58287
Paper: 2605.21320
What if gravity had a structure similar to intermolecular forces?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Fazlollahi, H.R. et al.
Original title: Van der Waals Gravity Theory
Paper: 2604.19831
Can low-frequency gravitational waves reveal a new theory of gravity?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Iania, William et al.
Original title: Probing Scalar-Tensor-Induced Gravitational Waves in the nHz Band: \(\texttt{NANOGrav}\) and SKA
Paper: 2604.13012
What do supernovae and the cosmic background radiation tell us about the geometry of the Universe?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Crisman, Camilo et al.
Original title: Joint curvature and growth rate measurements with supernova peculiar velocities and the CMB
Paper: 2604.06361
What can thermodynamics teach us about gravity?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Fazlollahi, H.R. et al.
Original title: Extended Gravity Theories from a Thermodynamic Perspective
Paper: 2604.09739
When do the usual tools of cosmology break down?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Wolney, Matheus et al.
Original title: Standard perturbation theory for interacting dark sector cosmologies. Part I. Breakdown of Einstein-de Sitter kernels
Paper: 2603.12431
Can the standard cosmological model emerge naturally from General Relativity?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Fazlollahi, H.R. et al.
Original title: Natural Emergence of LCDM Cosmology within General Relativity from Two Alternative Frameworks Without Fine-Tuning and Coincidence
Paper: 2602.21305
Why does the cosmological constant remain one of the great mysteries of physics?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Fazlollahi, H.R. et al.
Original title: A New Perspective on the Cosmological Constant and Its Core Problems
Paper: 2602.19145
Can dark energy change its behavior over time?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Thanankullaphong, Phusuda et al.
Original title: Quintom dark energy: Future attractor and phantom crossing in light of DESI DR2 observations
Paper: 2601.02284
How can hypothetical particles leave imprints on the early Universe?
DRAFT — story in progress.
This section will be developed from the scientific paper, presenting the central question, the context, how the researchers investigated the problem, the main results, and why the work matters.
About the paper
Authors: Ferreira, Matheus Curado et al.
Original title: Amplifying the cosmological collider with ghost spectators
Paper: 2601.14413
About this collection
New stories will be added as new papers from the program are published. Each entry is designed as an independent science communication piece, with an image, an accessible title and text, and a link to the original scientific paper.