Observables In Cosmology: Three Astronomical Perspectives

Abstract

In this thesis, I present three projects I carried out during m PhD. In the first project, I introduce Conformal Transformations and the Galaxy Number County. I explicitly show that the Galaxy Number Counts is invariant under Conformal Transformations, which makes it a good physical observable. In the second project, I study how weak lensing, and in particular cosmic shear, affects the shape of the galaxy images. I show that, if the light polarisation is also measured, the rotation of the main axes of the elliptical galaxy shape becomes a cosmological observable. I show how this can be used to estimate cosmic shear and its correlation functions. In the third project, I define a higher order (Riemann-squared and -cubed) Lagrangian Effective Theory of Gravity. I compute the linear correction to the speed and the quasinormal frequencies of the gravitational waves in this theory around a Schwarzschild-like background.