Cosmology from Surveys
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
It seems we live in a bizarre Universe. Recent measurements strongly favour a 'concordance' model in which the Universe is flat and contains approximately 4% baryons, 21% Cold Dark Matter and 75% Dark Energy .The concept of Dark Energy is a variant on Einstein's cosmological constant (Lambda). This 'Lambda+ Cold Dark Matter' paradigm and its extensions pose fundamental questions about the origins of the Universe. The Universe appears to have begun with a period of rapid inflation and eventually cooled into a dark world in which the first objects formed and re-ionized the Universe. Along with Dark Energy, these processes form the basis for research of this proposal. A unique feature of our Programme is that it brings together expertise in galaxy surveys, gravitational lensing, radio survey analysis and the CMB. The Programme also connects the UCL Cosmology and Instrumentation Teams. Since its foundation in 2004 the main focus of the Cosmology Team has been Dark Energy with heavy involvement and leadership roles in both the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and in the proposed ESA Euclid satellite. With the recruitment of two new members of staff in 2009 we have branched into the research areas of the Cosmic Microwave Background (utilizing the Planck satellite) and Radio Surveys (e.g. LOFAR). Therefore we have now a much broader coverage of modern Cosmology. We will estimate the properties of Dark Energy, constrain the physics of the very early Universe, study the phase change as the universe underwent Re-ionization, and potentially measure the mass of the neutrino for the first time. The proposed Programme is divided into four Themes, listed from low to high redshift: Theme 1 covers Cosmology from Photometric Redshift Surveys, Theme 2 is focused on Cosmic Shear from these surveys, Theme 3 explores Radio Surveys mainly for studying the Epoch of Re-ionization, and Theme 4 looks at the fundamental problems of the Early Universe, with the aid of data from Planck. The Cosmology Team at UCL is well placed for this project. The four applicants are very experienced in the fields of analyzing large galaxy surveys, designing surveys for weak lensing and for the Epoch of Re-ionization, and studying the early universe from the CMB, our best hope for uncovering fingerprints of the Physics operating at very high energy scales. The proposed Programme would allow us to maintain and enhance our leadership roles in international projects, and to train and inspire a young generation of Cosmologists.
Organisations
Publications
Abdalla F
(2015)
Cosmology from HI galaxy surveys with the SKA
Abdalla F.
(2012)
The Dark Energy Spectrometer (DESpec): A Multi-Fiber Spectroscopic Upgrade of the Dark Energy Camera and Survey for the Blanco Telescope
in arXiv e-prints
Agarwal S
(2014)
pkann - II. A non-linear matter power spectrum interpolator developed using artificial neural networks
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Agarwal Shankar
(2012)
Constraining Cosmological Parameters, Including Neutrino Mass, Using N-body Large Scale Simulations and Artificial Neural Networks
in American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #219
Agnello A
(2015)
Discovery of two gravitationally lensed quasars in the Dark Energy Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Alsing J
(2015)
Weak lensing with sizes, magnitudes and shapes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Antonik M
(2013)
The impact of camera optical alignments on weak lensing measures for the Dark Energy Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Balan Sreekumar Thaithara
(2012)
ExoFit: Orbital parameters of extra-solar planets from radial velocity
in Astrophysics Source Code Library
Balbinot E
(2016)
THE PHOENIX STREAM: A COLD STREAM IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Balbinot E
(2015)
The LMC geometry and outer stellar populations from early DES data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Banerji M
(2014)
Combining Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data with near-infrared data from the ESO VISTA Hemisphere Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bechtol K
(2015)
EIGHT NEW MILKY WAY COMPANIONS DISCOVERED IN FIRST-YEAR DARK ENERGY SURVEY DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Becker M
(2016)
Cosmic shear measurements with Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data
in Physical Review D
Bonnett C.
(2015)
Redshift distributions of galaxies in the DES Science Verification shear catalogue and implications for weak lensing
in ArXiv e-prints
Bradley L
(2014)
CLASH: A CENSUS OF MAGNIFIED STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT z ~ 6-8
in The Astrophysical Journal
Chang C
(2015)
Wide-Field Lensing Mass Maps from Dark Energy Survey Science Verification Data.
in Physical review letters
Chang C
(2015)
MODELING THE TRANSFER FUNCTION FOR THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Chapman E
(2013)
The scale of the problem: recovering images of reionization with Generalized Morphological Component Analysis
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chapman E
(2012)
Foreground removal using fastica : a showcase of LOFAR-EoR Foreground removal using fastica
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Clerkin L
(2017)
Testing the lognormality of the galaxy and weak lensing convergence distributions from Dark Energy Survey maps
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Clerkin L
(2015)
A prescription for galaxy biasing evolution as a nuisance parameter
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Donahue M
(2014)
CLASH-X: A COMPARISON OF LENSING AND X-RAY TECHNIQUES FOR MEASURING THE MASS PROFILES OF GALAXY CLUSTERS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Drlica-Wagner A
(2015)
SEARCH FOR GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM DES DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXY CANDIDATES WITH FERMI -LAT DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Easther R
(2014)
Simple predictions from multifield inflationary models.
in Physical review letters
Easther R
(2012)
Bayesian analysis of inflation. II. Model selection and constraints on reheating
in Physical Review D
Eichner T
(2013)
GALAXY HALO TRUNCATION AND GIANT ARC SURFACE BRIGHTNESS RECONSTRUCTION IN THE CLUSTER MACSJ1206.2-0847
in The Astrophysical Journal
Feeney S
(2014)
Sparse inpainting and isotropy
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Feeney S
(2013)
Hierarchical Bayesian detection algorithm for early-universe relics in the cosmic microwave background
in Physical Review D
Feeney S
(2013)
Is there evidence for additional neutrino species from cosmology?
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Feeney SM
(2012)
Robust constraint on cosmic textures from the cosmic microwave background.
in Physical review letters
Goldstein D
(2015)
AUTOMATED TRANSIENT IDENTIFICATION IN THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY
in The Astronomical Journal
Goldstein D
(2015)
ERRATUM: "AUTOMATED TRANSIENT IDENTIFICATION IN THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY" (2015, AJ, 150, 82)
in The Astronomical Journal
Grillo C
(2014)
CLASH: EXTENDING GALAXY STRONG LENSING TO SMALL PHYSICAL SCALES WITH DISTANT SOURCES HIGHLY MAGNIFIED BY GALAXY CLUSTER MEMBERS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hartley W
(2020)
The impact of spectroscopic incompleteness in direct calibration of redshift distributions for weak lensing surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hawken A
(2012)
Lifting the degeneracy between geometric and dynamic distortions using the sound horizon from the cosmic microwave background Calibrating the BAO scale using the CMB
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Henghes B
(2020)
Machine Learning for Searching the Dark Energy Survey for Trans-Neptunian Objects
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Huang X
(2015)
CLASH: EXTREME EMISSION-LINE GALAXIES AND THEIR IMPLICATION ON SELECTION OF HIGH-REDSHIFT GALAXIES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Jarvis M
(2016)
The DES Science Verification weak lensing shear catalogues
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jeffrey N
(2020)
Deep learning dark matter map reconstructions from DES SV weak lensing data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jensen H
(2013)
Probing reionization with LOFAR using 21-cm redshift space distortions
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Joachimi B
(2015)
Galaxy Alignments: An Overview
in Space Science Reviews
Joachimi B
(2011)
Constraints on intrinsic alignment contamination of weak lensing surveys using the MegaZ-LRG sample
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Johnson M
(2012)
Determining the outcome of cosmic bubble collisions in full general relativity
in Physical Review D
Jouvel S
(2014)
CLASH: Photometric redshifts with 16 HST bands in galaxy cluster fields
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Jouvel S
(2014)
Optimizing spectroscopic and photometric galaxy surveys: efficient target selection and survey strategy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jouvel S.
(2015)
Photometric redshifts and clustering of emission line galaxies selected jointly by DES and eBOSS
in arXiv e-prints
Jouvel S.
(2013)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: CLASH. Photometric + photo-z catalog (Jouvel+, 2014)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Kacprzak T
(2013)
Measurement and calibration of noise bias in weak lensing galaxy shape estimation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kiessling A
(2015)
Erratum to: Galaxy Alignments: Theory, Modelling & Simulations
in Space Science Reviews
Title | Hosting artists in residence |
Description | We have hosted artists in residence who were inspired by Dark Energy studies |
Type Of Art | Artwork |
Year Produced | 2014 |
Impact | - Artist Katie Paterson (on Leverhulme grant; PI: Lahav) presented her work in museums around the world - Artist Marie Kaus produced art work on dark energy, on display at UCL Observatory at Mill Hill |
Description | This grant is finished but this section can be updated at a later date if details required. This grant laid the foundations for preparations for the Dark Energy Survey, where we have played leadership roles The Dark Energy Survey is now complete, but data are sill analysed. The survey has produced so far produced over 350 papers (as of March 2020), some of them led by our group. In addition, the grant provided support for theoretical studies in cosmology and other probes such as the CMB. |
Exploitation Route | Published in ArXiv (Green open access) and refereed journals This grant was followed by the Consolidated Grants (2012-2015; 2015-2019; 2018-21). This grant led to 3 ERC grants: Bridle (Starting Grant) Lahav (Advanced Grant), Peiris (Starting Grant). |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education |
URL | http://www.ucl.ac.uk/star |
Description | This grant is finished but this section can be updated at a later date if details required. - Media interviews and press releases - Artist Katie Paterson (on Leverhulme grant; PI: Lahav) presented her work in museums around the world , and artist Marie Kaus produced art work on dark energy, on display at UCL Observatory at Mill Hill |
Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
Impact Types | Cultural |
Description | Advance ERC grant |
Amount | € 2,400,000 (EUR) |
Funding ID | FP7/291329 |
Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | Belgium |
Start | 05/2012 |
End | 04/2018 |
Title | Optics and statistical methods |
Description | - designing optical corrector for wide field multi object spectroscopy - developing statistics of cross correlations of imaging and spectroscopic surveys (Kirk et al.) - developing methods for selecting candidates of emission lines galaxies from imaging surveys |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2014 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | See above |
Description | Book: "The Dark Energy Survey: The Story of a Cosmological Experiment" (edited by O. Lahav et al.) published by World Scientific (2020) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | "The Dark Energy Survey: The Story of a Cosmological Experiment" (edited by O. Lahav et al.) published by World Scientific (2020) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/q0247 |
Description | press release and interview |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | a press release on DESI (which succeeded DESpec) Interviewed in at article on DESI in Physics Today (Oct 2016) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |