SGER: Toward Model-Based Figures of Merit and Quantitative Goals for Dark Energy Experiments

宇宙加速膨胀的发现激起了物理学家和天文学家的热情，因为它显然需要新的物理学，要么是在物质的奇异状态下，要么是作为对引力基本理论的修正。尽管已经提出了令人兴奋和互补的实验，但对理论问题的理解如此之少，以至于很难设定量化目标来判断不同方法可能产生的影响。美国国家科学基金会(NSF)、美国国家航空航天局(NASA)和能源部(DOE)通过联邦咨询委员会机制共同成立了一个暗能量特别工作组(DETF)，试图规划一种合理的方法来确定暗能量的性质。为了进行量化和可比性评估，DETF制定了一个衡量标准，这肯定会引起相当大的争论。对于评估暗能量的实验方法来说，拥有这样的优势系数是必不可少的，但任何具体的选择都是基于对理论框架(参数化)的选择。这个项目是将暗能量实验的量化科学目标问题带到一个新的水平的尝试。结果应在DETF报告发布后不久公布，以便他们可以通知对报告的讨论和接受。这项工作将推进理解暗能量的尝试，但也将允许学生为这个令人振奋的话题做出贡献，这个话题被《科学》杂志评为“我们这个时代最令人兴奋的科学问题”。这也是一个很好的机会，可以为创建一个更有针对性和更有效的实验计划提供重大援助。暗能量实验的新指标可能会改变这一领域，因为目前还缺乏任何公认的、公认的标准。这项研究将以探索性模式进行，教职员工与一小群学生密切合作。希望这将向学生介绍他们在更传统的研究环境中可能无法处理的研究。这项工作是由天文科学部银河系外天文和宇宙学计划资助的，作为探索性研究的小额赠款。它是跨部门宇宙物理计划的一部分。

AST-0632901AlbrechtThe discovery of the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe has galvanized physicists and astronomers, because it clearly requires new physics, either in exotic states of matter or as a modification of the fundamental theory of gravity. Although exciting and complementary experiments are already being proposed, the theoretical issues are so poorly understood that it is hard to set quantitative goals by which to judge the likely impact of different approaches. The National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Department of Energy (DOE), together chartered a Dark Energy Task Force (DETF), through the federal advisory committee mechanism, to try to plan a sensible approach to determining the nature of dark energy. In order to make both quantitative and comparable assessments, the DETF has developed a metric, which is sure to cause considerable debate. It is essential to have such a figure-of-merit for evaluating experimental approaches to dark energy, but any specific choice is based on a selection of a theoretical framework (a parameterization).This project is an attempt to bring the issue of quantitative science goals for dark energy experiments to a new level. The results should be available soon after the DETF report is released, so that they can inform the discussion and acceptance of the report. The work will advance attempts to understand the dark energy, but will also allow students to contribute to this exhilarating topic, rated as "the most exciting science question of our time" by Science magazine. There is also a good chance to contribute significant assistance towards creating a more focused and effective experimental program. New metrics for dark energy experiments could transform the field, because of the current lack of any well-established, agreed-upon standards. This study will be carried out in an exploratory mode, with the faculty member working closely with a small group of students. The hope is that this will introduce the students to research that they might not be able to handle in a more traditional research setting.This work is funded from the Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology program of the Division of Astronomical Sciences, as a Small Grant for Exploratory Research. It is part of the interagency Physics of the Universe program.