Related papers: The limits of cosmology: role of the Moon
Cosmological measurements over the next decade will enable us to shed light on the content and evolution of the Universe. Complementary measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations are expected to…
We assess the accuracy with which future galaxy surveys can measure cosmological parameters by deriving a handy approximation that we validate numerically. We find that galaxy surveys are quite complementary to future Cosmic Microwave…
Observations at long wavelengths, in the wide interval from a few to 1000 micron, are essential to study diffuse media in galaxies, including all kinds of atomic, ionic and molecular gases and dust grains. Hence they are particularly suited…
The epoch of Cosmic Dawn, when the first stars and galaxies were born, is widely considered the final frontier of observational cosmology today. Mapping the period between Cosmic Dawn and the present-day provides access to more than 90% of…
This contribution intends to give a pedagogical introduction to the topic of dark energy (the mysterious agent supposed to drive the observed late time acceleration of the Universe) and to various observational tests which require only…
Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) are discussed, with particular emphasis on current ground-based experiments and on future satellite, balloon and interferometer experiments. Observational techniques and the effects of…
Discoveries in the last few years have revolutionized our knowledge of the universe and our ideas of its ultimate fate. Measurements of the expansion of the universe show that it is not slowing down under normal gravity but accelerating due…
Opening up a new window of millimeter-wave observations that span frequency bands in the range of 30 to 500 GHz, survey half the sky, and are both an order of magnitude deeper (about 0.5 uK-arcmin) and of higher-resolution (about 10…
The presence of dark energy in the Universe is inferred directly from the accelerated expansion of the Universe, and indirectly, from measurements of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy. Dark energy contributes about 2/3 of the…
The polarization of light is a critically under-utilized, rich source of information in astronomy. For stars in particular, surface magnetism polarization that can be detected and measured with spectro-polarimetry. Many questions about…
Empirical studies of the first generation of stars and quasars will likely become feasible within the next decade in several different wavelength bands. Microwave anisotropy experiments, such as MAP or Planck, will set constraints on the…
CMB anisotropy data could put powerful constraints on theories of the evolution of our Universe. Using the observations of the large number of CMB experiments, many studies have put constraints on cosmological parameters assuming different…
The next decade promises an observational revolution which will change cosmology forever. The precise measurement of the angular anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background should specify to a few percent all of the parameters of the…
The cosmic Middle Ages, spanning the last 8-10 Gyr of the Universe, is a critical period in which massive early-formed systems coexist with global star formation quenching in less massive galaxies, yet galaxies experience further dynamical,…
The dramatic confrontation between new observations and theories of the early and recent universe makes cosmology one of the most rapidly advancing fields in the physical sciences. The universe is a unique laboratory in which to probe…
Magnetic fields are observed not only in stars, but in galaxies, clusters, and even high redshift Lyman-alpha systems. In principle, these fields could play an important role in structure formation and also affect the anisotropies in the…
The ten's of micro-Kelvin variations in the temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation across the sky encode a wealth of information about the Universe. The full-sky, high-resolution maps of the CMB that will be made in…
From an observational perspective cosmology is today in excellent shape - advances in instrumentation and data processing have enabled us to study the universe in detail back to when the first galaxies formed, map the fluctuations in the…
For over four decades, synchrotron-radiating sources have played a series of pathfinding roles in the study of galaxy clusters and large scale structure. Such sources are uniquely sensitive to the turbulence and shock structures of…
The cosmic microwave background (CMB), the relic radiation from the early Universe, offers a unique window into both primordial conditions and the intervening large-scale structure (LSS) it traverses. Interactions between CMB photons and…