Mapping the universe with dark energy survey

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (34) ◽  
pp. 1845015
Author(s):  
Dragan Huterer

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.

2020 ◽  
Vol 495 (4) ◽  
pp. 4860-4892 ◽  
Author(s):  
T de Jaeger ◽  
L Galbany ◽  
S González-Gaitán ◽  
R Kessler ◽  
A V Filippenko ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Despite vast improvements in the measurement of the cosmological parameters, the nature of dark energy and an accurate value of the Hubble constant (H0) in the Hubble–Lemaître law remain unknown. To break the current impasse, it is necessary to develop as many independent techniques as possible, such as the use of Type II supernovae (SNe II). The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the utility of SNe II for deriving accurate extragalactic distances, which will be an asset for the next generation of telescopes where more-distant SNe II will be discovered. More specifically, we present a sample from the Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program (DES-SN) consisting of 15 SNe II with photometric and spectroscopic information spanning a redshift range up to 0.35. Combining our DES SNe with publicly available samples, and using the standard candle method (SCM), we construct the largest available Hubble diagram with SNe II in the Hubble flow (70 SNe II) and find an observed dispersion of 0.27 mag. We demonstrate that adding a colour term to the SN II standardization does not reduce the scatter in the Hubble diagram. Although SNe II are viable as distance indicators, this work points out important issues for improving their utility as independent extragalactic beacons: find new correlations, define a more standard subclass of SNe II, construct new SN II templates, and dedicate more observing time to high-redshift SNe II. Finally, for the first time, we perform simulations to estimate the redshift-dependent distance-modulus bias due to selection effects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (1) ◽  
pp. 954-969
Author(s):  
Niall Jeffrey ◽  
Justin Alsing ◽  
François Lanusse

ABSTRACT In many cosmological inference problems, the likelihood (the probability of the observed data as a function of the unknown parameters) is unknown or intractable. This necessitates approximations and assumptions, which can lead to incorrect inference of cosmological parameters, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy, or create artificial model tensions. Likelihood-free inference covers a novel family of methods to rigorously estimate posterior distributions of parameters using forward modelling of mock data. We present likelihood-free cosmological parameter inference using weak lensing maps from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Science Verification data, using neural data compression of weak lensing map summary statistics. We explore combinations of the power spectra, peak counts, and neural compressed summaries of the lensing mass map using deep convolution neural networks. We demonstrate methods to validate the inference process, for both the data modelling and the probability density estimation steps. Likelihood-free inference provides a robust and scalable alternative for rigorous large-scale cosmological inference with galaxy survey data (for DES, Euclid, and LSST). We have made our simulated lensing maps publicly available.


2019 ◽  
Vol 486 (2) ◽  
pp. 2184-2196 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Macaulay ◽  
R C Nichol ◽  
D Bacon ◽  
D Brout ◽  
T M Davis ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present an improved measurement of the Hubble constant (H0) using the ‘inverse distance ladder’ method, which adds the information from 207 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) at redshift 0.018 < z < 0.85 to existing distance measurements of 122 low-redshift (z < 0.07) SNe Ia (Low-z) and measurements of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs). Whereas traditional measurements of H0 with SNe Ia use a distance ladder of parallax and Cepheid variable stars, the inverse distance ladder relies on absolute distance measurements from the BAOs to calibrate the intrinsic magnitude of the SNe Ia. We find H0 = 67.8 ± 1.3 km s−1 Mpc−1 (statistical and systematic uncertainties, 68 per cent confidence). Our measurement makes minimal assumptions about the underlying cosmological model, and our analysis was blinded to reduce confirmation bias. We examine possible systematic uncertainties and all are below the statistical uncertainties. Our H0 value is consistent with estimates derived from the Cosmic Microwave Background assuming a ΛCDM universe.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (14) ◽  
pp. 2030014
Author(s):  
Elcio Abdalla ◽  
Alessandro Marins

The most important problem in fundamental physics is the description of the contents of the Universe. Today, we know that 95% thereof is totally unknown. Two thirds of that amount is the mysterious Dark Energy described in an interesting and important review [E. J. Copeland, M. Sami and S. Tsujikawa, Int. J. Mod. Phys. D 15 (2006) 1753]. We briefly extend here the ideas contained in that review including the more general Dark Sector, that is, Dark Matter and Dark Energy, eventually composing a new physical Sector. Understanding the Dark Sector with precision is paramount for us to be able to understand all the other cosmological parameters comprehensively as modifications of the modeling could lead to potential biases of inferred parameters of the model, such as measurements of the Hubble constant and distance indicators such as the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations. We discuss several modern methods of observation that can disentangle the different possible descriptions of the Dark Sector. The possible applications of some theoretical developments are also included in this paper as well as a more thorough evaluation of new observational techniques at lower frequencies and gravitational waves.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (06) ◽  
pp. 1430012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Baltay

The recent discovery by Riess et al.1 and Perlmutter et al.2 that the expansion of the universe is accelerating is one of the most significant discoveries in cosmology in the last few decades. To explain this acceleration a mysterious new component of the universe, dark energy, was hypothesized. Using general relativity (GR), the measured rate of acceleration translates to the present understanding that the baryonic matter, of which the familiar world is made of, is a mere 4% of the total mass-energy of the universe, with nonbaryonic dark matter making up 24% and dark energy making up the majority 72%. Dark matter, by definition, has attractive gravity, and even though we presently do not know what it is, it could be made of the next heavy particles discovered by particle physicists. Dark energy, however, is much more mysterious, in that even though we do not know what it is, it must have some kind of repulsive gravity and negative pressure, very unusual properties that are not part of the present understanding of physics. Investigating the nature of dark energy is therefore one of the most important areas of cosmology. In this review, the cosmology of an expanding universe, based on GR, is discussed. The methods of studying the acceleration of the universe, and the nature of dark energy, are presented. A large amount of experimentation on this topic has taken place in the decade since the discovery of the acceleration. These are discussed and the present state of knowledge of the cosmological parameters is summarized in Table 7 below. A vigorous program to further these studies is under way. These are presented and the expected results are summarized in Table 10 below. The hope is that at the end of this program, it would be possible to tell whether dark energy is due to Einstein's cosmological constant or is some other new constituent of the universe, or alternately the apparent acceleration is due to some modification of GR.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michela Massimi

AbstractBayesian methods are ubiquitous in contemporary observational cosmology. They enter into three main tasks: (I) cross-checking datasets for consistency; (II) fixing constraints on cosmological parameters; and (III) model selection. This article explores some epistemic limits of using Bayesian methods. The first limit concerns the degree of informativeness of the Bayesian priors and an ensuing methodological tension between task (I) and task (II). The second limit concerns the choice of wide flat priors and related tension between (II) parameter estimation and (III) model selection. The Dark Energy Survey (DES) and its recent Year 1 results illustrate both these limits concerning the use of Bayesianism.


Author(s):  
Malcolm S. Longair

Since 1980, our empirical knowledge of the universe has advanced tremendously and precision cosmology has become a reality. These developments have been largely technology-driven, the result of increased computer power, new generations of telescopes for all wavebands, new types of semiconductor detectors, such as CCDs, and major investments by many nations in superb observing facilities. The discipline also benefitted from the influx of experimental and theoretical physicists into the cosmological arena. The accuracy and reliability of the values of the cosmological parameters has improved dramatically, many of them now being known to about 1%. The ΛCDM model provides a remarkable fit to all the observational data, demonstrating that the cosmological constant is non-zero and that the global geometry of the universe is flat. The underlying physics of galaxy and large-scale structure formation has advanced dramatically and demonstrated the key roles played by dark matter and dark energy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 485 (4) ◽  
pp. 5329-5344 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Lasker ◽  
R Kessler ◽  
D Scolnic ◽  
D Brout ◽  
D L Burke ◽  
...  

Abstract Calibration uncertainties have been the leading systematic uncertainty in recent analyses using Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) to measure cosmological parameters. To improve the calibration, we present the application of spectral energy distribution-dependent ‘chromatic corrections’ to the SN light-curve photometry from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). These corrections depend on the combined atmospheric and instrumental transmission function for each exposure, and they affect photometry at the 0.01 mag (1 per cent) level, comparable to systematic uncertainties in calibration and photometry. Fitting our combined DES and low-z SN Ia sample with baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) priors for the cosmological parameters Ωm (the fraction of the critical density of the universe comprised of matter) and w (the dark energy equation of state parameter), we compare those parameters before and after applying the corrections. We find the change in w and Ωm due to not including chromatic corrections is −0.002 and 0.000, respectively, for the DES-SN3YR sample with BAO and CMB priors, consistent with a larger DES-SN3YR-like simulation, which has a w-change of 0.0005 with an uncertainty of 0.008 and an Ωm change of 0.000 with an uncertainty of 0.002. However, when considering samples on individual CCDs we find large redshift-dependent biases (∼0.02 in distance modulus) for SN distances.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (04) ◽  
pp. 2050002
Author(s):  
G. K. Goswami ◽  
Anirudh Pradhan ◽  
A. Beesham

In this paper, we have presented a model of the Friedmann–Lemaitre–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) universe filled with matter and dark energy (DE) fluids by assuming an ansatz that deceleration parameter (DP) is a linear function of the Hubble constant. This results in a time-dependent DP having decelerating–accelerating transition phase of the universe. This is a quintessence model [Formula: see text]. The quintessence phase remains for the period [Formula: see text]. The model is shown to satisfy current observational constraints. Various cosmological parameters relating to the history of the universe have been investigated.


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