Dr Tessa Baker
Royal Society University Research Fellow, proleptic Senior Lecturer
Email: t.baker@qmul.ac.ukTelephone: 0207 882 5867Room Number: G. O. Jones Building, Room 515Website: http://www.tessabaker.spaceTwitter: @Tessa_M_Baker
Profile
I'm a cosmologist who works on understanding the role of gravity in our universe. In particular, I develop tools to test ideas about modified gravity and dark energy models with gravitational waves, large-scale structure and cosmological voids.
I completed my PhD at the University of Oxford, on devising mathematical frameworks for testing alternatives to General Relativity. I remained in Oxford for a five-year postdoctoral research fellowship at All Souls College, one year of which I spent as Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. In January 2019 I moved to QMUL to join the Cosmology & Relativity group as a Royal Society University Research Fellow and proleptic senior lecturer.
Experiments: I'm a member of the consortia behing the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), the ESA Euclid satellite, and the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA).
You can check out my personal website via the link above.
Undergraduate Teaching
Semester A 2020: Module Associate for SPA6311 Physical Cosmology.
In the past I've lectured in fourth-year courses on weak lensing and introductory cosmology for the MMathPhys degree at Oxford.
In 2020 I gave a lecture series `Cosmology Beyond General Relativity' at the SIGRAV Internationl PhD school, details can be found here.
Research
Research Interests:
My primary research interests at present are:
- Multimessenger gravitational wave events.
- Systems for describing cosmologically-motivated alternatives to GR ('parameterisations').
- Testing gravity with galaxy surveys (large-scale structure and weak lensing).
- Cosmological voids as unique laboratories in the universe.
Funding
I'm currently supported by two awards from the Royal Society, one of the UK's most long-standing independent scientific bodies:
Royal Society University Research Fellowship, 2019 - 2023.
Royal Society Research Fellow's Enhancement Award, 2019 - 2021.
From Feburary 2021, I will commence a Starting Grant from the European Research Council, under the Horizon2020 framework.
Publications
Some selected publications:
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T. Baker and I. Harrison, ‘Constraining Scalar-Tensor Modified Gravity with Gravitational Waves and Large Scale Structure Surveys' (2020), https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.13791, submitted to JCAP.
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A. Pisani, E. Massara, D. Spergel, D. Alonso, T. Baker et al., ‘Cosmic voids: a novel probe to shed light on our Universe’ (2019), https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.05161.
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T. Baker, J. Clampitt, B. Jain, & M. Trodden, ‘Void Lensing as a Test of Gravity’, Phys. Rev. D 98, 023511 (2018), https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.07533.
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M. Lagos, E. Bellini, J. Noller, P.G. Ferreira, T. Baker, ‘A general theory of linear cosmological perturbations: sta- bility conditions, the quasistatic limit and dynamics’, JCAP 03 (2018) 021, https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.09893.
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T. Baker, E. Bellini, P. Ferreira, M. Lagos, J. Noller & I. Sawicki, ‘Strong constraints on cosmological gravity from GW170817 and GRB 170817A’, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 251301 (2017). Selected as a PRL Editor’s Highlight contribution. https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.06394
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T. Baker, M. Trodden, ‘Multi-Messenger Time Delays from Lensed Gravitational Waves’, Phys. Rev. D., Vol. 95 063512 (2017), https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.02004.
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M. Lagos, T. Baker, P.G. Ferreira, J. Noller, ‘A General Theory of Linear Cosmological Perturbations: scalar- tensor and vector-tensor theories’, Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Issue 08, article id. 007 (2016),https://arxiv.org/abs/1604.01396.
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T. Baker, P. Bull, ‘Observational signatures of modified gravity on ultra-large scales’, The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 811 No. 2 (2015), http://arxiv.org/abs/1506.00641
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T. Baker, D. Psaltis, C. Skordis, ‘Linking Tests of Gravity On All Scales: from the Strong-Field Regime to Cosmology’, The Astrophysical Journal, 802 63 (2015), http://arxiv.org/abs/1412.3455
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T. Baker, P.G. Ferreira, C. Skordis, ‘The Parameterized Post-Friedmann Framework for Theories of Modified Gravity: Concepts, Formalism and Examples’, Phys. Rev. D, Vol.87, 024015 (2013), http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.2117
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T. Baker, P.G. Ferreira, C. Skordis, J. Zuntz, ‘Towards a Fully Consistent Parameterization of Modified Gravity’, Phys. Rev. D, Vol. 84, Issue 12 (2011), http://arxiv.org/abs/1107.0491
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Baker T, Barreira A, Desmond H et al. (2021). The Novel Probes Project -- Tests of Gravity on Astrophysical Scales. nameOfConference
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Baker T, Harrison I (2021). Constraining Scalar-Tensor Modified Gravity with Gravitational Waves and Large Scale Structure Surveys. nameOfConference
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Sedda MA, Berry CPL, Jani K et al. (2020). The missing link in gravitational-wave astronomy: discoveries waiting in the decihertz range. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref -
Baker T, Clampitt J, Jain B et al. (2018). Void lensing as a test of gravity. nameOfConference
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Lagos M, Bellini E, Noller J et al. (2018). A general theory of linear cosmological perturbations: stability conditions, the quasistatic limit and dynamics. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref -
Amendola L, Appleby S, Avgoustidis A et al. (2018). Cosmology and fundamental physics with the Euclid satellite.. nameOfConference
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Baker T, Bellini E, Ferreira PG et al. (2017). Strong Constraints on Cosmological Gravity from GW170817 and GRB 170817A. nameOfConference
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Baker T, Trodden M (2017). Multimessenger time delays from lensed gravitational waves. nameOfConference
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Lagos M, Baker T, Ferreira PG et al. (2016). A general theory of linear cosmological perturbations: scalar-tensor and vector-tensor theories. nameOfConference
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Bull P, others (2016). Beyond ΛCDM: Problems, solutions, and the road ahead. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref -
Berti E, Barausse E, Cardoso V et al. (2015). Testing general relativity with present and future astrophysical observations. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref -
Baker T, Bull P (2015). Observational signatures of modified gravity on ultra-large scales. nameOfConference
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Leonard CD, Baker T, Ferreira PG (2015). Exploring degeneracies in modified gravity with weak lensing. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref -
Baker T, Psaltis D, Skordis C (2015). LINKING TESTS OF GRAVITY ON ALL SCALES: FROM THE STRONG-FIELD REGIME TO COSMOLOGY. nameOfConference
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Baker T, Ferreira PG, Leonard CD et al. (2014). New gravitational scales in cosmological surveys. nameOfConference
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Ferreira PG, Baker T, Skordis C (2014). Testing general relativity with cosmology: a synopsis of the parametrized post-Friedmann approach. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref -
Baker T, Ferreira P, Skordis C (2014). A fast route to modified gravitational growth. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref -
Baker T, Ferreira PG, Skordis C (2013). The parameterized post-Friedmann framework for theories of modified gravity: Concepts, formalism, and examples. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref -
Amendola L, Appleby S, Bacon D et al. (2013). Cosmology and Fundamental Physics with the Euclid Satellite.. nameOfConference
DOI: 10.12942/lrr-2013-6
QMRO: qmroHref -
Zuntz J, Baker T, Ferreira PG et al. (2012). Ambiguous tests of general relativity on cosmological scales. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref -
Baker T (2012). Growth of perturbations in parametrized gravity for an Einstein–de Sitter universe. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref -
Baker T, Ferreira PG, Skordis C et al. (2011). Towards a fully consistent parametrization of modified gravity. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref
Supervision
Current PhD students:
Ashim Sen Gupta
Anson Chen
Public Engagement
Performance
Winner of the ‘Women of the Future Award’, science category, 2015.
Fulbright All-Disciplines Scholar Award, 2015-2016.
SET for Britain Cavendish medal for Physics, 2014.