We are a small subgroup of the supernovae and cosmology group at
the LPNHE, consisting of one permanent staff member and,
currently, two thesis students.
The motivation for our current research is to contribute to an
improved theoretical understanding of the dynamics of purely
self-gravitating systems, with the specific case of dark matter in
current cosmological models as an application.
We approach the problem in the broader framework of research in
statistical mechanics on the thermodynamics and dynamics of long-range
interacting systems, of which gravity is just a specific case. This has
led us recently to study, in particular, simplified one dimensional toy
models, and specifically the case of gravity in one dimension (the
"sheet model").