Accurate and precise statistical methods for weak gravitational lensing

Gravitational lensing - the deflection of light from distant luminous sources by intervening matter - is a powerful technique for understanding our Universe. Coherent distortions in the shapes of galaxies can be used to infer the properties of the intervening dark matter, in particular its spatial distribution (i.e. how clumped or how smooth it is) and its evolution throughout cosmic history. Lensing is sensitive to the geometry of space-time and hence to the constituent components of the Universe. The dominant component is the so-called "dark energy", a poorly-understood source of energy-density which appears to mimic a cosmological constant term in the Einstein field equations. Gaining an understanding into the properties of dark energy is fundamental to our understanding of physics and is one of the main science drivers for upcoming cosmology surveys such as the Euclid space telescope. Having accurate and precise techniques for measuring the power spectrum of fluctuations in the lensing strength over the sky will be crucial for measuring dark energy properties with Euclid. The student will develop statistical methods inspired by analyses of the cosmic microwave background and apply them to realistic synthetic maps of cosmic shear. Edinburgh leads the weak lensing analysis of Euclid and hosts the UK Science Ground Segment Science Data Centre. There will be the opportunity to work within the Euclid weak lensing team, giving the student access to a state-of-the-art cosmology survey. There will also be opportunities to apply the methods to current data.