I am a faculty member at the Insitute of Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy,
at Universidad Andrés Bello, in Santiago, Chile.
My research focuses on understanding the origin and evolution of our Universe and its constituents.
In particular, I work on tackling open fundamental topics such as the nature of dark matter and dark energy,
the initial conditions of our Universe, and the physics of black holes.
I make use of gravitational wave observations to answer these questions.
Observations on the evolution of the Universe have shown that space is expanding at an accelerated rate. Scientist have postulated the presence of an unknown "dark energy" constituent of our universe, which would be responsible for this acceleration, and would make up about 70% of all the energy in the Universe. I work on understanding the nature of dark energy, and testing its possible properties.
While the standard theory of gravity, namely General Relativity, is known to be accurate in describing planetary motion, it is not clear if it describes well the evolution of our Universe at high and low energies. I work on analyzing different aspects of alternative models of gravity, and developing tools to test General Relativity with gravitational waves.
Gravitational waves are ripples in the spacetime that travel to us. Their shape carry crucial information on its origins and its travel history. These waves were directly detected by LIGO in 2015 for the first time from two black holes merging. I work on exploiting their rich information to learn about cosmology and test the properties of gravity.
Observations from galaxies indicate the presence of non-luminous matter, known as dark matter. This constituent makes up about 25% of the energy content of the universe, yet is fundamental properties are unknown. I work on investigating the properties of dark matter through the phenomenon of gravitational lensing of gravitational waves.
Inflation is an early stage of the Universe that occurred a tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang. During this period, space undergoes an explosively rapid expansion, leading to the very smooth Universe we currently observe on cosmological scales. I work on analyzing this inflationary period to understand the initial conditions of our Universe.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me