AAG: Cosmic Voids as Dark Energy Laboratories

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。Wandelt博士将开发几种方法，利用宇宙空洞的特性来了解暗能量，这是现代宇宙学中最基本的问题。利用空洞的数量、大小和椭圆度分布及其随红移的变化来约束暗能量的状态方程。初步结果表明，这项工作将与未来其他暗能量探测器竞争。空洞作为一种宇宙探测器具有独立的系统效应，这使得它与其他研究暗能量的方法之间可以进行重要的交叉检验。该计划的更广泛影响包括对学生进行研究培训，并开发在线示范室，即“暗能量实验室”，该实验室将利用CosmologyAtHome.org上现有的8000多名参与者的虚拟社区。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Dr. Wandelt will develop several methods for using the properties of cosmic voids to learn about dark energy, the most fundamental problem in modern cosmology. The equation of state of dark energy will be constrained using the number, size, and ellipticity distribution of voids and their variations with redshift. Preliminary results indicate that this work will be competitive with other future dark energy probes. Voids as a cosmological probe have independent systematic effects allowing important cross-checks between this and other methods for investigating dark energy.Broader impacts of this program include student training in research, and development of the online demonstration room, a "Dark Energy Laboratory," which will leverage the existing virtual community of over 8000 participants in CosmologyAtHome.org.