The era of precision cosmology with voids

Cosmic voids, the large underdense regions of our Universe, have emerged over the past decade as powerful cosmological laboratories: their simple dynamics, sensitivity to local gravitational effects and cosmic expansion, and ability to span large volumes, make them uniquely suited to test fundamental physics. Fueled by advances in theory, simulations, and observations, void science has matured into a precision tool for constraining the parameters of the standard cosmological model and its possible extensions. In this review, we provide a comprehensive description of the statistical tools developed to characterize voids, the theoretical models that link them to cosmological parameters, and the methodologies used to extract information from survey data. We highlight the growing synergy between void-based observables and other cosmological probes, and showcase the increasingly stringent constraints derived from voids measured from current and expected for upcoming surveys' data. With the advent of the next generation of galaxy surveys, voids are poised to play a central role in the future of cosmology, turning what was once regarded as emptiness into one of the most promising frontiers of fundamental science.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review
Published
2026-04-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00159-026-00166-x
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

The era of precision cosmology with voids

G Verza, Sofia Contarini, Alice Pisani
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
article

The era of precision cosmology with voids

G Verza, Sofia Contarini, Alice Pisani
article en

Abstract

Cosmic voids, the large underdense regions of our Universe, have emerged over the past decade as powerful cosmological laboratories: their simple dynamics, sensitivity to local gravitational effects and cosmic expansion, and ability to span large volumes, make them uniquely suited to test fundamental physics. Fueled by advances in theory, simulations, and observations, void science has matured into a precision tool for constraining the parameters of the standard cosmological model and its possible extensions. In this review, we provide a comprehensive description of the statistical tools developed to characterize voids, the theoretical models that link them to cosmological parameters, and the methodologies used to extract information from survey data. We highlight the growing synergy between void-based observables and other cosmological probes, and showcase the increasingly stringent constraints derived from voids measured from current and expected for upcoming surveys' data. With the advent of the next generation of galaxy surveys, voids are poised to play a central role in the future of cosmology, turning what was once regarded as emptiness into one of the most promising frontiers of fundamental science.

The Astronomy and Astrophysics ReviewVol. 34(1)
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) (IT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Princeton University (US), Aix-Marseille Université (FR), Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (DE), Flatiron Health (United States) (US), Flatiron Institute (US)
HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 27%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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The era of precision cosmology with voids — G Verza, Sofia Contarini, et al. · The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS