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Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques are now widely used for cosmological parameter estimation. Chains are generated to sample the posterior probability distribution obtained following the Bayesian approach. An important issue is how…
We present a neural net algorithm for parameter estimation in the context of large cosmological data sets. Cosmological data sets present a particular challenge to pattern-recognition algorithms since the input patterns (galaxy redshift…
The recent measurements of the power spectrum of Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies are consistent with the simplest inflationary scenario and big bang nucleosynthesis constraints. However, these results rely on the assumption of a…
Forthcoming cosmic microwave background experiments (CMB) will provide precise new tests of structure-formation theories. The geometry of the Universe may be determined robustly, and the classical cosmological parameters, such as the…
The standard cosmological model, with its six independent parameters, successfully describes our observable Universe. One of these parameters, the optical depth to reionization $\tau_\mathrm{reio}$, represents the scatterings that Cosmic…
The Standard Model of Particle Physics (SMPP) is an enormously successful description of high energy physics, driving ever more precise measurements to find "physics beyond the standard model", as well as providing motivation for developing…
We investigate the question of how tightly we can constrain the cosmological parameters by using the ``cosmic inversion'' method in which we directly reconstruct the power spectrum of primordial curvature perturbations, $P(k)$, from the…
The interpretation of cosmological observables requires the use of increasingly sophisticated theoretical models. Since these models are becoming computationally very expensive and display non-trivial uncertainties, the use of standard…
We evaluate the contribution of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization spectra to cosmological parameter constraints. We produce cosmological parameters using high-quality CMB polarization data from the ground-based QUaD experiment…
Non-Gaussian correlations induced in CMB power spectra by gravitational lensing must be included in likelihood analyses for future CMB experiments. We present a simple but accurate likelihood model which includes these correlations and use…
Likelihood analyses of the COBE-DMR sky maps are used to determine the normalization of the inverse-power-law-potential scalar field dark energy model. Predictions of the DMR-normalized model are compared to various observations to…
The estimation of cosmological parameters from precision observables is an important industry with crucial ramifications for particle physics. This article discusses the statistical methods presently used in cosmological data analysis,…
We generalise the procedure for joint estimation of cosmological parameters to allow freedom in the relative weights of various probes. This is done by including in the joint Likelihood function a set of 'Hyper-Parameters', which are dealt…
We use cosmography to present constraints on the kinematics of the Universe without postulating any underlying theoretical model a priori. To this end, we use a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to perform comparisons to the supernova Ia…
Parameter estimation is one of the most important tasks in statistics, and is key to helping people understand the distribution behind a sample of observations. Traditionally parameter estimation is done either by closed-form solutions…
The possibility of determining cosmological parameters on the basis of a wide set of observational data including the Abell-ACO cluster power spectrum and mass function, peculiar velocities of galaxies, the distribution of Ly-$\alpha$…
Observational Cosmology has indeed made very rapid progress in the past decade. The ability to quantify the universe has largely improved due to observational constraints coming from structure formation Measurements of CMB anisotropy and,…
In these lectures I cover a number of topics in cosmological data analysis. I concentrate on general techniques which are common in cosmology, or techniques which have been developed in a cosmological context. In fact they have very general…
The status of the standard cosmological model, also known as "LCDM" is described. With some simple assumptions, this model fits a wide range of data, with just six (or seven) free parameters. One should be skeptical about this claim, since…
We describe our methodology for comparing the WMAP measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and other complementary data sets to theoretical models. The unprecedented quality of the WMAP data, and the tight constraints on…