Astrophysical research

Cosmology & Astroparticles (CYA, CTA)

Cosmology

The physics of the Early Universe and primordial gravitational waves via measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background. In this context, our group is involved in several key projects at the frontier of this field: the ESA´s Planck mission, the QUIJOTE-CMB Experiment, the GroundBird and LSPE-STRIP experiments, and the Tenerife Microwave Spectrometer (TMS).

The nature of dark energy and its evolution via massive spectroscopic surveys of the distant Universe. IAC is involved in a series of experiments (Planck satellite, BOSS, eBOSS and MS-DESI projects, and the future ESA´s Euclid satellite) which will shed light on the detailed dynamics of the accelerated expansion and the equation of state of this intriguing energy.

Astroparticles

Study of the most violent processes in the Universe to unveil the origin and acceleration mechanisms of cosmic rays to the highest energies. The IAC group is involved in three major collaborations: the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) at the International Space Station and the MAGIC Telescopes and the future CTA-North Array, at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma).

  • Messengers from the Cosmos
    Astroparticle Theory
    Our group works on theoretical astroparticle physics and our goal is to expand our understanding of the fundamental laws of Nature by exploiting the synergies between astrophysical observations and laboratory experiments. Different lines we are currently working on are: Indirect searches of dark matter: New light exotic particles coupled very
    Jorge
    Martín Camalich
    In progress
  • DALI
    DALI
    In addition to being a long-postulated particle that satisfactorily explains the absence of the neutron’s dipole moment observed in laboratories while addressing the charge-parity problem in quantum chromodynamics, the axion emerges as a promising dark matter candidate due to its low mass and weak interaction with ordinary matter. Dark matter is a
    Javier de
    Miguel Hernández
    In progress
  • The Invisible Scaffolding of Space
    Cosmology with Large Scale Structure Probes
    The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) contains the statistical information about the early seeds of the structure formation in our Universe. Its natural counterpart in the local universe is the distribution of galaxies that arises as a result of gravitational growth of those primordial and small density fluctuations. The characterization of the
    FRANCISCO SHU
    KITAURA JOYANES
    In progress
  • The QUIJOTE experiment at the Teide Observatory
    QUIJOTE CMB Experiment (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife CMB Experiment)
    QUIJOTE es un programa de dos telescopios y su batería de instrumentos, instalados en el Observatorio del Teide, dedicados fundamentalmente a la caracterización de la polarización del Fondo Cósmico de Microondas, en el rango de frecuencias de 10-42 GHz.
    José Alberto
    Rubiño Martín
    In progress
  • Project Image
    Particle Astrophysics
    The MAGIC Collaboration is integrated by 20 research institutes and university departments from Armenia, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and USA. The collaboration comprises two 17m diameter telescopes, located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, designed to measure the Cherenkov radiation associated with
    Ramón
    García López
    In progress
  • Project Image
    Relativistic and Theoretical Astrophysics
    Introduction Gravitational lenses are a powerful tool for Astrophysics and Cosmology. The goals of this project are: i) to obtain a robust determination of the Hubble constant from the time delay measured between the images of a lensed quasar; ii) to study the individual and statistical properties of dark matter condensations in lens galaxies from
    Evencio
    Mediavilla Gradolph
    In progress