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Name

Christian Fidler

Position

Former member
Member from October 2014 to September 2017
Current position: Postdoc at RWTH, AAchen University, Germany

Research statement

I am interested in the dynamics of the Universe, both at early times related to the CMB and at late times for the large scale structure.

SONG

I am involved in the development of the non-linear Boltzmann code SONG. This code simulates the early Universe at unrivalled precision including all standard model species.

It currently is used to compute:
-B mode polarisation of the CMB induced from non-linear dynamics after inflation
-Non-Guassianity in the temperature and polarisation of the CMB from non-linear dynamics
- Spectral Distortions in the CMB from reionisation

Working on this project I have gained valuable experience in numerical simulations and programming. I also have a good understanding of numerical mathematics and have designed several new methods fit for the computations performed by SONG.

Theoretical Cosmology

I am working on the theoretical framework related to non-linear simulations.

- My work contributes to developing the framework of second-order cosmological perturbation theory. I have derived the polarised non-linear Boltzmann equations.
- I am working on a new formalism for non-linear propagation of photons in curved spaces.

Projects

Research directions:

Cosmology and General Relativity

Non-active projects

Cosmological data

André Füzfa, Christophe Ringeval

Our expertise on inflation and cosmic strings is involved in the CMB data analysis of the PLANCK satellite.
Our current efforts concern the study of future CMB polarization experiments, ground based, and in space, as the CORE satellite.
We are part of the EUCLID collaboration and interested in the impact of high precision measurements of the matter power spectra of the large scale structures for cosmic inflation.
We are also involved in the LISA project, the giant space interferometer dedicated to gravitational wave astronomy, which should open a new window on cosmic string physics and other early universe phenomena.
Another direction concerns the 21cm cosmological radiation. This radiation is emitted by neutral hydrogen atoms and should shed light into the so-called "dark ages": from the recombination to the reionisation of the universe by the first stars. This new observable is expected to be sensitive to the nature of dark matter as well as to some properties of the inflationary era.

External collaborators: Sébastien Clesse (RWTH, Aachen), V. Vennin (Portsmooth, U.K.), CORE Coll., Euclid Coll., eLISA Coll.

Large Scale Structures

André Füzfa, Christophe Ringeval

The statistical properties of large scale structures contain a large amount of information on cosmological observables. The abundance of halos of given mass is sensitive to various cosmological observables such as the equation of state of dark energy, to the amount of primordial non-Gaussianity as well as to the mass and cross section of the dark matter particles. Various of our activities and research are equally focused to the future EUCLID satellite mission.

External collaborators: M. Musso.

Reionisation

Christophe Ringeval

When computing cosmological predictions it is often assumed that reionisation is homogenous and completely described by only one parameter, it's optical depth. However, reionisation is driven by the local collapse of matter and therefore highly inhomogeneous.
The above method is therefore only an approximation and large corrections can be expected for quantities which depend on the exact dynamics of reionisation.
We study more realistic models on reionisation and their impact on the cosmic microwave background, especially in polarization.

SONG -- Simulations of the early Universe

Christophe Ringeval

We work on the development and update of the numerical code SONG which solves the dynamics of the primordial Universe after Inflation. The computational methods used are comparable to the ones employed in the public codes CLASS and CAMB, but we solve the equations of motion beyond the linear order approximation, providing greater precision.
This is crucial for several dynamical effects which are absent in the leading order equations such as the generation of B-mode polarization and non-Gaussianity.

Furthermore, the code plays a central role in the recently developed Newtonian motion gauge framework. In this framework, a Newtonian N-body simulation can be promoted to a full relativistic simulation by interpreting it on the space-time of a specific Newtonian motion gauge. SONG can be used to compute the structure of these space-times up to second order in perturbation theory, thereby including for example the impact of relativity on the dark matter bispectrum.

External collaborators: Guido W. Pettinari, Thomas Tram, Cyril Pitrou (IAP, France).

Publications in IRMP

All my publications on Inspire

Number of publications as IRMP member: 10
Last 5 publications

2017

CP3-17-35: CMB anisotropies from patchy reionisation and diffuse Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects

Christian Fidler and Christophe Ringeval

[Abstract] [PDF] [Journal] [Dial]
Published in JCAP 1710 (2017) 026
Refereed paper. September 6.

CP3-17-34: General relativistic weak-field limit and Newtonian N-body simulations

Fidler, Christian and Tram, Thomas and Rampf, Cornelius and Crittenden, Robert and Koyama, Kazuya and Wands, David

[Abstract] [PDF] [Journal] [Dial]
Refereed paper. September 4.

CP3-17-33: The effect of early radiation in N-body simulations of cosmic structure formation

Adamek, Julian and Brandbyge, Jacob and Fidler, Christian and Hannestad, Steen and Rampf, Cornelius and Tram, Thomas

[Abstract] [PDF] [Journal] [Dial]
Refereed paper. September 4.

CP3-17-32: Relativistic initial conditions for N-body simulations

Fidler, Christian and Tram, Thomas and Rampf, Cornelius and Crittenden, Robert and Koyama, Kazuya and Wands, David

[Abstract] [PDF] [Journal] [Dial]
Refereed paper. September 4.

CP3-17-31: Kinetic theory of fermions in curved spacetime

Fidler, Christian and Pitrou, Cyril

[Abstract] [PDF] [Journal] [Dial]
Refereed paper. September 4.

More publications

2016

CP3-16-52: Cosmological N-body simulations including radiation perturbations

Jacob Brandbyge, Cornelius Rampf, Thomas Tram, Florent Leclercq, Christian Fidler, Steen Hannestad

[Abstract] [PDF] [Journal] [Dial]
Submitted to MNRAS
Refereed paper. October 26.

CP3-16-37: Relativistic Interpretation of Newtonian Simulations for Cosmic Structure Formation

Fidler, Christian and Tram, Thomas and Rampf, Cornelius and Crittenden, Robert and Koyama, Kazuya and Wands, David

[Abstract] [PDF] [Journal] [Dial]
to be published in JCAP
Refereed paper. July 4.

CP3-16-04: The Intrinsic Matter Bispectrum in $Lambda$CDM

Tram, Thomas and Fidler, Christian and Crittenden, Robert and Koyama, Kazuya and Pettinari, Guido W. and Wands, David

[Abstract] [PDF] [Journal] [Dial]
Refereed paper. March 1.

2015

CP3-15-41: Precise numerical estimation of the magnetic field generated around recombination

Fidler, Christian and Pettinari, Guido and Pitrou, Cyril

[Abstract] [PDF] [Journal] [Dial]
Refereed paper. November 25.

CP3-15-14: General relativistic corrections to $N$-body simulations and the Zel'dovich approximation

Fidler, Christian and Rampf, Cornelius and Tram, Thomas and Crittenden, Robert and Koyama, Kazuya and Wands, David

[Abstract] [PDF] [Journal] [Dial]
Refereed paper. May 21.