Marina Cortês
Marina Cortês | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Lisbon; University of Sussex |
| Known for | Cosmology; dark energy; energetic causal sets; biocosmology; arrow of time |
| Awards | Buchalter Cosmology Prize (2015) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cosmology, Theoretical physics, Quantum gravity, Biocosmology |
| Institutions | University of Lisbon |
Marina Cortês is a Portuguese cosmologist and research faculty member at the Institute for Astrophysics and Space Sciences of the University of Lisbon.
Education
Cortês completed her BSc and MSc degrees in theoretical physics at the University of Lisbon between 2001 and 2005, graduating with honours. She went on to earn a PhD in astronomy from the University of Sussex, which she completed in 2008.
Career
Cortês was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics from 2008 to 2011. She subsequently held Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) fellowships at the University of Lisbon and the University of Edinburgh,[1] including a Marie Curie Fellowship funded by the European Union from 2013 to 2016.
From 2018 to 2020, she was a Visiting Researcher at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada. In 2020 she joined the Institute for Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA) at the University of Lisbon as research faculty.[2] In August 2025, Cortês was appointed to the advisory board of the Lifeboat Foundation.[3]
Research
Cosmology and astrophysics
Cortês works with both observational and theoretical cosmology. Her research includes inflationary theory, cosmic microwave background (CMB) anomalies, dark energy, and model-independent inference in cosmology. She has contributed to surveys including SDSS-III/BOSS[4] and DESI, producing simulations for survey optimization and working on broadband power-spectrum forecasts.[5]
Her 2013 paper on CMB anomalies in open universes was selected as a “Viewpoint” highlight by Physical Review Letters.[6]
In 2015 she received the inaugural Buchalter Cosmology Prize for her work on the foundations of the arrow of time.[7]
Quantum gravity
Cortês has contributed to the development of the Energetic Causal Sets framework, a proposal for understanding the emergence of spacetime and the flow of time.[8][9]
Biocosmology
In 2022 Cortês aided in the founding of the field of biocosmology, intended to provide a quantitative framework connecting cosmology and biological systems.[10][11]
Mountaineering
Cortês summited Cho Oyu (8,201 m) in September 2014 as part of the SummitClimb autumn expedition.[12][13] In 2017, she joined an unsuccessful Lhotse expedition, during which she met Sherpa guide Nima Tshering Sherpa. In 2022, she took part in a Mount Everest expedition with Imagine Nepal, aiming to climb without supplemental oxygen.[13]
Selected publications
- Cosmic microwave background anomalies in an open universe (2013)
- The Universe as a process of unique events (2014)
- Interpreting DESI’s evidence for evolving dark energy (2024)
- Higher dimensional energetic causal sets (2023)
- Contributions to DESI and CosmoVerse collaboration papers (2024–2025)
References
- ^ "Marina Cortes | School of Physics and Astronomy". School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh.
- ^ "Marina Cortês". Iastro.pt.
- ^ "Dr. Marina Cortês". Lifeboat Foundation.
- ^ Marina Cortês (9 August 2011). "SDSS-III: Massive spectroscopic surveys of the distant Universe, the Milky Way, and extra-solar planetary systems". The Astronomical Journal. 142 (3): 72. arXiv:1101.1529. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/142/3/72.
- ^ Cortês, Marina; Liddle, Andrew R. (1 December 2024). "Interpreting DESI's evidence for evolving dark energy". Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. 2024 (12): 007. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2024/12/007.
- ^ Liddle, Andrew R.; Cortês, Marina (9 September 2013). "Cosmic Microwave Background Anomalies in an Open Universe". Physical Review Letters. 111 (11). arXiv:1306.5698. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.111302.
- ^ "Time comes first: Cortês and Smolin win cosmology prize". Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
- ^ Cortês, Marina; Smolin, Lee (6 October 2014). "The universe as a process of unique events". Physical Review D. 90 (8). arXiv:1307.6167. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.90.084007. ISSN 1550-7998.
- ^ "Why does time go forwards, not backwards?". Bbc.com. 4 October 2022.
- ^ Koppl, Roger (1 April 2025). "Of thoughts and things: how a new model of evolution explains the coevolution of culture and technology". Review of Evolutionary Political Economy. 6 (1): 215–238. doi:10.1007/s43253-024-00141-1. ISSN 2662-6144.
- ^ "How the New Science of Biocosmology Redefines Our Understanding of Life". Discover Magazine.
- ^ Gerschenfeld, Ana (8 December 2014). ""Queremos descobrir por que é que o tempo está sempre a avançar e nunca recua"". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese).
- ^ a b "Award-winning woman cosmologist aims no O2 Everest ascent". The Himalayan Times. 27 March 2022.