Related papers: Dark Energy Studies: Challenges to Computational C…
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…
The $\Lambda$CDM framework offers a remarkably good description of our universe with a very small number of free parameters, which can be determined with high accuracy from currently available data. However, this does not mean that the…
We discuss the evolution of density perturbations of dark matter and dark energy in cosmological models which admit future singularities in a finite time. Up to now geometrical tests of the evolution of the universe do not differentiate…
In this paper we review in detail a number of approaches that have been adopted to try and explain the remarkable observation of our accelerating Universe. In particular we discuss the arguments for and recent progress made towards…
Cosmological observations offer unique and robust avenues for probing the fundamental nature of dark matter particles-they broadly test a range of compelling theoretical scenarios, often surpassing or complementing the reach of terrestrial…
Modified gravity theories may provide an alternative to dark energy to explain cosmic acceleration. We argue that the observational program developed to test dark energy needs to be augmented to capture new tests of gravity on astrophysical…
Weak gravitational lensing is one of the key probes of the cosmological model, dark energy, and dark matter, providing insight into both the cosmic expansion history and large scale structure growth history. Taking into account a broad…
I consider some of the issues we face in trying to understand dark energy. Huge fluctuations in the unknown dark energy equation of state can be hidden in distance data, so I argue that model-independent tests which signal if the…
Future weak lensing surveys will directly probe the clustering of dark matter, in addition to providing a test for various cosmological models. Recent studies have provided us with the tools which can be used to construct the complete…
The accelerated expansion of the Universe is one of the main discoveries of the past decades, indicating the presence of an unknown component: the dark energy. Evidence of its presence is being gathered by a succession of observational…
Recent cosmological and astrophysical observations point out that the Universe is in accelerating expansion and filled up with non-luminous matter. In order to explain the observed large scale structures and this accelerating behavior one…
Cosmology is entering a very exciting time in its history, when a wealth of cutting-edge experiments are all starting to collect data, or about to. These experiments aim at addressing some of the most intriguing questions in fundamental…
I consider the relation of explanations for the observed data to testability in the following contexts: observational and experimental detection of dark matter; observational and experimental detection of dark energy or a cosmological…
In the context of models where the dark energy density $\rD$ is a random variable, anthropic selection effects may explain both the "old" cosmological constant problem and the "time coincidence". We argue that this type of solution to both…
Cosmology offers opportunities to test Dark Matter independently of its interactions with the Standard Model. We study the imprints of long-range forces acting solely in the dark sector on the distribution of galaxies, the so-called Large…
The Dark Energy Survey (DES; operations 2009-2015) will address the nature of dark energy using four independent and complementary techniques: (1) a galaxy cluster survey over 4000 deg2 in collaboration with the South Pole Telescope…
The accelerating expansion of the universe suggests that an unknown component with strongly negative pressure, called dark energy, currently dominates the dynamics of the universe. Such a component makes up ~70% of the energy density of the…
Astrophysical observations are pointing out huge amounts of dark matter and dark energy needed to explain the observed large scale structures and cosmic accelerating expansion. Up to now, no experimental evidence has been found, at…
Weak lensing provides a direct measure of the distribution of mass in the universe, and is therefore a uniquely powerful probe of dark matter. Weak lensing can also be used to measure the twin phenomenon of dark energy, via its effect upon…
Numerical simulations play a key important role in modern cosmology. Examples are plenty including the cosmic web - large scale structure of the distribution of galaxies in space - which was first observed in N-body simulations and later…