Sunny Vagnozzi is an Italian cosmologist. He is an assistant professor at the
University of Trento.
Vagnozzi is known for his contributions at the interface of cosmology, particle
physics, and astrophysics, with a primary focus on determining the fundamental nature of
dark matter and dark energy. He has been awarded the Buchalter Cosmology Prize for his work on dark energy, and is the recipient of the 2023 SIGRAV Prize. Additionally, he is an editor of the journal "Physics of the Dark Universe".
Education.
Vagnozzi earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Trento in 2012, followed by a Master of Science in Physics from the University of Melbourne in 2014. Later in 2019, he completed a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Stockholm University.
Career.
Following his PhD, Vagnozzi joined the Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Cambridge as a Newton-Kavli Fellow. In 2022, he returned to the University of Trento, where he has been serving as an assistant professor.
Media coverage.
Vagnozzi's work has been highlighted by various news websites and science magazines, including "Science", "Science News", "Quanta Magazine", "New Scientist", "National Geographic (Poland)", "Esquire" and "Forbes".
Research.
Vagnozzi has worked on a broad array of problems at the interface of cosmology and astroparticle physics. His work has contributed to investigating the nature of dark matter and dark energy, testing cosmic inflation, determining the shape of the universe, understanding the origins of cosmic tensions (including the Hubble tension), using black hole observations to test gravity and fundamental physics, and searching for signatures of neutrino masses in cosmological observations. Additionally, his research has identified new ways for detecting dark energy in experiments on Earth, and has proposed new techniques for testing gravity and searching for fifth forces by analyzing asteroid trajectories.