COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment

AST-0926815/0926641/0928636Gebhardt/Schneider/DePoyThe霍比-埃伯利望远镜暗能量实验暗能量问题的解决需要我们从根本上改变对宇宙的理解，而对任何模型的接受都需要大量的观测来证实。Hobby-Eberly望远镜(HET)暗能量实验，Hetdex，提供了一种技术上干净和观测上可靠的方法来测量暗能量的影响。Hetdex包括升级HET以扩大视野，部署可见的整场可复制单位光谱仪(VIVE)，以及完成一项广泛的野外调查，该调查将使用1400小时的观测来获得近100万个莱曼-阿尔法发射星系的红移。该项目的大部分已经在各种来源的支持下进行，包括大量的私人捐款。调查将确定红移2.4处的局部哈勃膨胀，并测量到该红移的角直径距离，两者的精度均为0.8%，结构的增长将确定为2%。几乎所有其他暗能量调查的目标都是较低的红移，而Hetdex的设计目的是提供关于暗能量演化的高红移信息，并且足够强大，即使在较晚的时候也能测量暗能量的影响。Hetdex将进一步测量宇宙的曲率约为0.1%，这比目前的项目好了一个数量级，是对其他当前和计划中的研究的有力补充。尽管Hetdex针对扩张历史的测量进行了优化，但这项调查也有重要的辅助科学，例如收集了25万颗恒星和140万个其他星系的光谱。鉴于其能力，病毒即使不是HET的主要工具，也将在很多年内成为HET的主要工具。对暗能量的重大见解、具有大量辅助科学的大型数据库以及关于HET的独特而强大的整体场光谱仪将对整个天文学产生广泛的影响。暗能量之谜的吸引力使Hetdex能够包括重大的公众宣传活动，包括麦当劳天文台游客中心和星日电台，包括为游客提供的互动展示和K-12教师的参与，以及http://www.hetdex.org.上的一个受欢迎的网页

AST-0926815/0926641/0928636Gebhardt/Schneider/DePoyThe Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy ExperimentThe solution to the problem of dark energy will require a fundamental shift in our understanding of the Universe, and acceptance of any model will require significant corroboration by observations. The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) Dark Energy Experiment, HETDEX, offers a technically clean and observationally robust approach to measuring the effects of dark energy. HETDEX includes an upgrade of the HET for a wider field of view, deployment of the Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS), and completion of a wide field survey which will use 1400 hours of observation to obtain nearly a million redshifts of Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies. Significant parts of the project are already underway with support from a variety of sources, including substantial private donations.The survey will determine the local Hubble expansion at redshift 2.4 and measure the angular diameter distance out to that redshift, both to an accuracy of 0.8%, and determine the growth of structure to 2%. Nearly all other dark energy surveys target lower redshifts, while HETDEX was designed to provide high-redshift information on the evolution of dark energy, as well as being sufficiently powerful to measure dark energy effects even at late times. HETDEX further will measure the curvature of the Universe to about 0.1%, an order of magnitude better than current projects, and a strong complement to other current and planned studies. Although HETDEX is optimized for measures of the expansion history, there is significant ancillary science from the survey, such as a collection of spectra of a quarter of a million stars and 1.4 million other galaxies. Given its capabilities, VIRUS will remain a, if not the, primary instrument for HET for many years.The significant insights on dark energy, the large database with substantial ancillary science, and the unique and powerful integral field spectrograph on the HET will have a broad impact throughout the astronomical community. The attraction of the dark energy enigma enables HETDEX to include significant public outreach involving the McDonald Observatory Visitors Center and Stardate radio, including an interactive display for visitors and the involvement of K-12 teachers, as well as a popular webpage at http://www.hetdex.org.