Mapping the universe with dark energy survey
First, I summarize the current status of dark energy, including methods to use data to separate between general-relativity and modified-gravity scenarios for the accelerating universe. Then, I discuss recent results from the Dark Energy Survey, currently the world’s leading experiment mapping large-scale structure in the universe. Year-1 DES analysis performed in 2017 included the combination of galaxy clustering, cosmic shear, and their cross-correlation to impose constraints on key cosmological parameters, while upcoming Year-3 and -5 analyses will dramatically improve those constraints. I discuss some of the challenges in this complex analysis, its results, and the more general path forward toward better understanding of dark matter and dark energy in the universe. I also comment on the foremost tension in the field of cosmology today: between local measurements of the Hubble constant from type Ia supernovae, and global measurements from the cosmic microwave background anisotropies.