# Sunny Vagnozzi

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.

## Awards and honors

* 2021 – Symmetry Young Investigator Award
* 2021 – Alfredo di Braccio Prize, Accademia dei Lincei
* 2022 – Buchalter Cosmology Prize (third prize)
* 2022 – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship
* 2023 – SIGRAV Prize

## Selected articles

* Foot, R., & Vagnozzi, S. (2015). Dissipative hidden sector dark matter. Physical Review D, 91(2), 023512. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.91.023512
* Vagnozzi, S., Giusarma, E., Mena, O., Freese, K., Gerbino, M., Ho, S., & Lattanzi, M. (2017). Unveiling ν secrets with cosmological data: Neutrino masses and mass hierarchy. Physical Review D, 96(12), 123503. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.96.123503
* Vagnozzi, S. (2020). New physics in light of the H₀ tension: An alternative view. Physical Review D, 102(2), 023518. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.023518
* Vagnozzi, S. (2020). Implications of the NANOGrav results for inflation. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters, 502(1), L11–L15. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slaa203
* Vagnozzi, S., Loeb, A., & Moresco, M. (2021). Eppur è piatto? The Cosmic Chronometers Take on Spatial Curvature and Cosmic Concordance. Astrophysical Journal, 908(1), 84. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abd4df
* Vagnozzi, S., Visinelli, L., Brax, P., Davis, A.-C., & Sakstein, J. (2021). Direct detection of dark energy: The XENON1T excess and future prospects. Physical Review D, 104(6), 063023. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.063023
* Vagnozzi, S., & Loeb, A. (2022). The Challenge of Ruling Out Inflation via the Primordial Graviton Background. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 939(2), L22. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac9b0e
* Vagnozzi, S., Roy, R., Tsai, Y.-D., Visinelli, L., Afrin, M., Allahyari, A., Bambhaniya, P., Dey, D., Ghosh, S. G., Joshi, P. S., Jusufi, K., Khodadi, M., Walia, R. K., Övgün, A., & Bambi, C. (2023). Horizon-scale tests of gravity theories and fundamental physics from the Event Horizon Telescope image of Sagittarius A*. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 40(16), 165007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/acd97b
* Vagnozzi, S. (2023). Seven Hints That Early-Time New Physics Alone Is Not Sufficient to Solve the Hubble Tension. Universe, 9(9), 393. https://doi.org/10.3390/universe9090393
* Tsai, Y.-D., Farnocchia, D., Micheli, M., Vagnozzi, S., & Visinelli, L. (2024). Constraints on fifth forces and ultralight dark matter from OSIRIS-REx target asteroid Bennu. Communications Physics, 7(1), 311. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-024-01779-3