I am an Associate Professor of Physics at the Department of Mathematical Physics, Physics Institute, University of Sao Paulo. My research focuses on areas of interface between Physics and Astronomy, in particular theoretical and observational Cosmology.
I am one of the Principal Investigators of the USP Center for Cosmology, which is a group of physicists and astronomers, as well as students and postdocs, which are active in observational and phenomenological areas of Cosmology and Astrophysics.
In the last few years I have been getting more involved with large-scale projects in observational Cosmology. The main goal of those projects is to gain insight into dark matter and dark energy through large-area astrophysical surveys that search for stuff like galaxies, quasars and supernovae. Many of these instruments are designed for cosmological applications, and employ new technologies.
Here are some of the instruments with which I am involved at some level.
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1.J-PAS (Javalambre Physics of the accelerating universe Astrophysical Survey). This innovative instrument, which is being built as part of a Brazil/Spain collaboration, consists of a 2.5m telescope with a 1.2 Gpixel camera and a large (5.5 deg^2) field of view. J-PAS will observe more than 8,000 deg^2 of the sky using 56 narrow-band filters, providing a low-resolution spectrum of all the detected objects. More information on the J-PAS web site: http://j-pas.org .
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2.PFS/SuMIRe. This multi-object spectrograph will be mounted on the 8m Subaru telescope. The team that is building this instrument includes japanese, american, french and brazilian partners. More info at the SuMIRe website: http://sumire.impu.jp/en .
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3.LSST (Large Synoptic Survey Telescope). This huge telescope should have a large impact on all areas of Astronomy, including Cosmology. The 8m mirror, and a field of view of 9.6 deg^2, will make the LSST the fastest survey telescope in history. It will observe 2/3 of the sky each three days, which allows it to detect faint variable sources such as asteroids, planets, supernovae and other cataclysmic events. Over time, it will provide a unique image quality over the largest volume of the known Universe of any survey. More information on: http://www.lsst.org
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4.S-MAPS (Southern Massive Astrophysical Panchromatic Survey). This proposed instrument will be a copy of J-PAS in Chile. Besides observing a part of the sky which is not visible from the northern hemisphere (where J-PAS will be located), a major motivation for S-MAPS is its sinergy with LSST. http://fma.if.usp.br/smaps
