Thanu Padmanabhan (IUCAA, Pune)
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.