Carlos J. A. P. Martins
CAUP

Abstract
The observational evidence for the acceleration of the universe demonstrates that canonical theories of cosmology and particle physics are incomplete, if not incorrect. The LHC evidence for the Higgs particle strongly suggests that fundamental scalar fields are among nature’s building blocks. An obvious follow-up question is whether such fields also play a role in cosmology. After a brief description of the E-ELT project, I'll highlight its role in this search, presenting detail forecasts in three fronts: characterizing dark energy (through redshift drift and type Ia supernovas), tests of the universality of physical laws (measurements of fundamental couplings and Equivalence Principle tests) and tests of General Relativity and unification scenarios in as yet unexplored regimes.

2013 July 17, 13:30

IA/U.Porto
Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto (Auditorium)
Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto