
The Cosmological Model: Status from Observations
Jo Dunkley, a cosmologist at Princeton University, surveys the observational evidence underpinning the standard model of cosmology. Speaking at the MPG-IAS-NTU Center Kick-off Conference in Wolfensohn Hall at the Institute for Advanced Study, she walks through the measurements that have built confidence in the current picture of the universe: the cosmic microwave background, the large-scale distribution of galaxies, and the expansion history traced through supernovae and other distance probes. Dunkley weighs where the data fit the model cleanly and where tensions persist, including disagreements between different methods for measuring the universe's expansion rate. She frames the talk as a status report rather than a settled verdict, pointing to which upcoming surveys and instruments are positioned to resolve the current discrepancies. The result is a working physicist's account of how cosmological parameters get pinned down and where the model's weak points actually sit.