Nikhil Padmanabhan

My research focuses on theoretical questions and observational analyses of the large-scale structure of the Universe. I am currently interested in several key questions: measuring the expansion history of the Universe using the baryon acoustic oscillation technique, reconstructing the initial conditions that gave rise to the large-scale structures we observe, and exploring new estimators for constraining signatures of primordial non-Gaussianity. Most of this work is being done within the context of the DESI survey and the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. I am also broadly interested in the application of new statistical/machine-learning tools to cosmology. Two recent examples are the application of optimal transport theory to cosmology and the combination of machine learning methods with perturbative calculations.