SCALE: Strings & Cosmology -- All Lengths Explored; May 11-15, 2026, Tenerife, Spain ➡️ Early-bird registration deadline: December 19, 2025 meetings.iac.es/scale2026

Here is our recent paper, where we have shown that quintessence provides a very good fit to the DESI dark energy data, better than the cosmological constant, and that it prefers a curved universe: arxiv.org/abs/2504.04226

To both cosmology and string theory communities: do not use simple phenomenological parametrizations (e.g., truncated Taylor expansions) of dark energy equation of state to conclude whether or not dark energy is dynamical -- see our recent paper: arxiv.org/abs/2503.22529

Here is our new COMPACT collaboration paper, where we demonstrate that cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization measurements from upcoming experiments can provide new avenues for detecting cosmic topology (i.e., the shape of the Universe): arxiv.org/abs/2503.08671

Acoustic signatures in the cosmic microwave background could help researchers infer the shape of the universe. www.quantamagazine.org/cosmologists...

Is the universe a sphere, like the surface of Earth? Or maybe it’s shaped like a doughnut? Cosmologists believe that these possibilities could leave clues in the sky. New methods could help find them. https://buff.ly/3PTCOTo

Is the universe infinite, or does it have a hidden shape waiting to be discovered? 🌌 Yashar Akrami (@yasharakrami.bsky.social) from #IFT is leading groundbreaking research on cosmic topology, featured in Quanta Magazine! Read more: www.quantamagazine.org/cosmologists...

Quanta Magazine just published a story about our searches for the topology of the Universe:

Having Persian dinner with IFT's cosmology group. What a wonderful evening it was! @iftuamcsic.bsky.social