Spectroscopic Surveys: A Precision Probe of Old and New Physics

par Dr Oliver Philcox

mardi 24 mai 2022, 14:00 → 16:00 Europe/Paris

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Historically, spectroscopic surveys have been used to constrain cosmology through the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation signature, often in combination with the CMB. However, this is not the only feature of interest: thanks to recent theoretical developments, we can now extract information from the full-shape of the galaxy power spectrum, allowing direct constraints to be placed on ΛCDM and its extensions. As the volume of survey data increases, such analyses become increasingly useful; by the end of the decade, it is likely that spectroscopic surveys will give the tightest constraints on a number of fundamental parameters.

 

In this talk, I will present the current status of the field, discussing a number of recent constraints obtained from the analysis of SDSS data in conjunction with a robust “first-principles” model, rooted in the Effective Field Theory of Large Scale Structure. In particular, I will highlight precision measurements of the Hubble parameter from both the sound horizon (at z ~ 1100) and the equality scale (z ~ 3500), and their implications for the so-called “Hubble tension”, as well as constraints on the clustering amplitude, S8. Such modeling is no longer restricted to the power spectrum: I will further discuss results obtained from the galaxy bispectrum, including the first measurements of primordial non-Gaussianity (both local and non-local) from large scale structure, and thereby limits on inflationary models. Finally, I will comment on the utility of full-shape modeling in constraining a variety of post-ΛCDM models, and discuss general prospects for the coming decade.

 

philcox_de_action-compressed.pdf

Video record