Biography

I am a cosmologist working on the Hubble tension, the observation that the Universe is expanding faster locally than in the standard cosmological model (known as LCDM) calibrated to observations of the very early Universe (in particular the CMB radiation). I believe that this is due to the effect of a local void or underdensity, which creates a local Hubble bubble in which the apparent expansion rate is enhanced by outflow from the void. I have published several papers on this topic since late 2020. The most compelling evidence so far is that the age of the Universe implies it is older than it would be if the locally measured expansion rate were actually correct at the background level, while being consistent with the early Universe method. This suggests that the local gradient of redshift with respect to distance has somehow been enhanced compared to what it would be in a uniformly expanding universe. The most plausible route to that is through outward peculiar velocities, which would mean we are living in a giant void. However, it would only be about 20% less dense than the cosmic average. You can see videos about my work here: https://www.youtube.com/@indranilbanik3424/videos