Contatto di riferimento: Lauro Moscardini
Spectacular progress in cosmology during recent years has allowed us to  understand the evolution of our universe from a tiny fraction of a  second after the Big Bang, till today, a span of about 14 billion years.  This development has also highlighted some deep mysteries about the  cosmos, especially regarding its composition. Current observations  suggest that the most dominant component of the universe, called dark  energy, has very peculiar properties. Unravelling the nature of dark  energy, which causes the accelerated expansion of the universe, is a  major theoretical challenge. I will describe our current understanding  of the universe, emphasizing some recent work which has the potential to  solve the enigma of dark energy.