Sunny Vagnozzi


Sunny Vagnozzi is an Italian cosmologist. He is an associate professor at the
University of Trento.
Vagnozzi is known for his contributions at the interface of cosmology, particle
physics, and astrophysics, with a primary focus on determining the fundamental nature of
dark matter and dark energy. He has been awarded the Buchalter Cosmology Prize for his work on dark energy, is the recipient of the 2023 SIGRAV Prize, and has been included in the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list in 2025. Additionally, he is an editor of the journal Physics of the Dark Universe.

Education

Vagnozzi earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Trento in 2012, followed by a Master of Science in Physics from the University of Melbourne in 2014. Later in 2019, he completed a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Stockholm University.

Career

Following his PhD, Vagnozzi joined the Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Cambridge as a Newton-Kavli Fellow. In 2022, he returned to the University of Trento, where he has served as assistant professor until 2025, when he received tenure and was promoted to associate professor.

Media coverage

Vagnozzi's work has been highlighted by various news websites and science magazines, including Science, Science News, Quanta Magazine, New Scientist, National Geographic , Esquire, Forbes, and Scientific American.

Research

Vagnozzi has worked on a broad array of problems at the interface of cosmology and astroparticle physics. His work has contributed to investigating the nature of dark matter and dark energy, testing cosmic inflation, determining the shape of the universe, understanding the origins of cosmic tensions, using black hole observations to test gravity and fundamental physics, and searching for signatures of neutrino masses in cosmological observations. Additionally, his research has identified new ways for detecting dark energy in experiments on Earth, and has proposed new techniques for testing gravity and searching for fifth forces by analyzing asteroid trajectories. As of 2025, his work has been cited more than 14,000 times, with an h-index of 61, according to Google Scholar.

Awards and honors

Personal life

Vagnozzi is first cousin of tennis coach and former tennis player Simone Vagnozzi.
He has stated that his research interests have been strongly influenced by Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

Selected articles

  • Foot, R., & Vagnozzi, S.. Dissipative hidden sector dark matter. Physical Review D, 91, 023512. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.91.023512
  • Vagnozzi, S., Giusarma, E., Mena, O., Freese, K., Gerbino, M., Ho, S., & Lattanzi, M.. Unveiling ν secrets with cosmological data: Neutrino masses and mass hierarchy. Physical Review D, 96, 123503. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.96.123503
  • Vagnozzi, S.. New physics in light of the H0 tension: An alternative view. Physical Review D, 102, 023518. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.023518
  • Vagnozzi, S.. Implications of the NANOGrav results for inflation. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters, 502, L11–L15. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slaa203
  • Vagnozzi, S., Loeb, A., & Moresco, M.. Eppur è piatto? The Cosmic Chronometers Take on Spatial Curvature and Cosmic Concordance. Astrophysical Journal, 908, 84. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abd4df
  • Vagnozzi, S., Visinelli, L., Brax, P., Davis, A.-C., & Sakstein, J.. Direct detection of dark energy: The XENON1T excess and future prospects. Physical Review D, 104, 063023. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.063023
  • Vagnozzi, S., & Loeb, A.. The Challenge of Ruling Out Inflation via the Primordial Graviton Background. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 939, L22. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac9b0e
  • Vagnozzi, S., Roy, R., Tsai, Y.-D., Visinelli, L., Afrin, M., Allahyari, A., Bambhaniya, P., Dey, D., Ghosh, S. G., Joshi, P. S., Jusufi, K., Khodadi, M., Walia, R. K., Övgün, A., & Bambi, C.. Horizon-scale tests of gravity theories and fundamental physics from the Event Horizon Telescope image of Sagittarius A*. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 40, 165007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/acd97b
  • Vagnozzi, S.. Seven Hints That Early-Time New Physics Alone Is Not Sufficient to Solve the Hubble Tension. Universe, 9, 393. https://doi.org/10.3390/universe9090393
  • Tsai, Y.-D., Farnocchia, D., Micheli, M., Vagnozzi, S., & Visinelli, L.. Constraints on fifth forces and ultralight dark matter from OSIRIS-REx target asteroid Bennu. Communications Physics, 7, 311. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-024-01779-3