Stronger weak lensing cosmology

宇宙学家已经确定，宇宙中95%的质量和能量是“暗的”，这意味着它既不吸收也不发射自己的光。但是“暗物质”的引力确实会使光线弯曲，因此通过仔细研究天空图像的扭曲来绘制暗物质的地图是可能的。在暗能量调查（DES）的领导下，三个大规模的实验现在正在使用超过1亿个星系的图像来测量附近宇宙的暗物质结构，看看它随时间的增长是否符合当前引力，暗物质和暗能量理论的预测。为了帮助完成DES分析，这些研究人员将开发新的方法来测量星系的扭曲及其与地球的距离。该赠款还将资助第一代/低收入本科生的参与，并通过巡回展览和演讲与费城社区分享暗宇宙的成果。目前许多用DES和鲁宾天文台的时空遗产巡天（LSST）等成像巡天来测试宇宙学的方法都是基于特别的假设和统计，需要复杂的准确性测试，并可能丢失有价值的信息。这项研究将用基于数据的原则性统计表示的方法取代其中的许多方法，使结果在提取信息时更容易理解，更精确，更接近最佳。PI还将把为DES校准开发的技术转移到LSST，这将使广泛的天文学受益。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Cosmologists have determined that 95% of the mass and energy in the Universe is "dark," meaning that it neither absorbs nor emits its own light. But the gravity of "dark matter" does bend light, so it is possible to map the dark matter by careful study of the distortions of sky images. Led by the Dark Energy Survey (DES), three large-scale experiments are now measuring distortions using the images of over 100 million galaxies to measure the dark-matter structure of the nearby universe, to see if its growth over time matches the predictions of current theories of gravity, dark matter, and dark energy. To help complete the DES analysis, these researchers will develop new methods for measuring both the distortion of the galaxies and their distances from Earth. The grant also will fund participation of first-generation/low-income undergraduates and the sharing of dark-universe results with the Philadelphia community by travelling exhibits and presentations. Many of the current methods for testing cosmology with imaging surveys like DES and the Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) are based on ad hoc assumptions and statistics that require complex testing for accuracy and may lose valuable information. This research will replace many of these with methods based on principled statistical representations of the data, rendering the results more understandable, precise, and closer to optimal in extracting information. The PI will also transfer techniques developed for DES calibration to LSST, which will benefit a broad swath of astronomy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.