Baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) have become one of the most powerful tools in modern cosmology for tracing how the Universe expands. Their measurements are often summarized through "shift parameters," which tell us how the observed cosmic distances compare with those predicted by a reference cosmological model. In this talk, I will show that these parameters can do more than help constrain cosmological models: they can also be used to test the geometry of the Universe in a direct and intuitive way. Starting from anisotropic BAO measurements, I will present simple diagnostics that allow us to probe whether cosmic distance relations behave as expected. Using current DESI BAO data, I will show that these tests are consistent with the standard cosmological picture within present uncertainties. More generally, this approach highlights how precision measurements of large-scale structure can be turned into tools for testing the internal coherence of our description of the cosmos.
24/03/2026
Speaker: Domenico Sapone - Department of Physics of the Chile University
Aula Gratton
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