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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2007

DESTINY, The Dark Energy Space Telescope

We have proposed the development of a low-cost space telescope, Destiny, as a concept for the NASA/DOE Joint Dark Energy Mission. Destiny is a 1.65m space telescope, featuring a near-infrared (0.85-1.7m) survey camera/spectrometer with a moderate flat-field field of view (FOV). Destiny will probe the properties of dark energy by obtaining a Hubble diagram based on Type Ia supernovae and a large-scale mass power spectrum derived from weak lensing distortions of field galaxies as a function of redshift.

Pasquale, Bert A.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Using Pantheon and DES supernova, baryon acoustic oscillation, and Hubble parameter data to constrain the Hubble constant, dark energy dynamics, and spatial curvature

ABSTRACT We use Pantheon Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) apparent magnitude, DES-3 yr binned SN Ia apparent magnitude, Hubble parameter, and baryon acoustic oscillation measurements to constrain six spatially flat and non-flat cosmological models. These sets of data provide mutually consistent cosmological constraints in the six cosmological models we study. A joint analysis of these data sets provides model-independent estimates of the Hubble constant, $H_0=68.8\pm 1.8\ \rm {km \, s^{-1} \ Mpc^{-1}}$, and the non-relativistic matter density parameter, $\Omega _{\rm m_0}=0.294\pm 0.020$. Although the joint constraints prefer mild dark energy dynamics and a little spatial curvature, they do not rule out dark energy being a cosmological constant and flat spatial hypersurfaces. We also add quasar angular size and H ii starburst galaxy measurements to the combined data set and find more restrictive constraints.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Instant folded strings, dark energy and a cyclic bouncing universe

We present a wholly self-consistent, complete cyclic bouncing cosmology based on components drawn from string theory and constructed in a way that is under perturbative control throughout (e.g., with temperature much less than the string scale and string coupling g s ≪ 1 at all times). The cyclic evolution is governed by standard dilaton-gravity in (3+1)-dimensions with a perturbatively generated potential and a coupling between the dilaton and a second field that becomes massless at ϕ = ϕ ESP , resulting in an enhanced symmetry point (ESP) that prevents the dilaton from running all the way to zero coupling. A central role is played by instant folded strings (IFSs) — fundamental strings with the unusual property of being much lighter than the string mass while extending far beyond the string length, and violating the Null Energy Condition (NEC). IFSs are produced classically when the string coupling grows with time, which occurs at two critical points in each cycle. In turn, they fulfill a dual function: Enabling cosmological bounces and initiating transient epochs of dark-energy domination that naturally transition into slow contraction. The resulting cosmology eliminates the cosmic singularity and multiverse problems of big bang inflationary models and robustly predicts time-varying IFS-induced dark energy and the absence of primordial B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background.

alternatives to inflation↗
DOE OSTI2020

Dark Energy Studies with LSST using the Photon Simulator (Final Report)

This grant funded the development and dissemination of the Photon Simulator (PhoSim) for the purpose of studying dark energy at high precision with the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) astronomical survey. The work was in collaboration with the Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC). Several detailed physics improvements were made in the optics, atmosphere and sensor, a number of validation studies were performed, and a significant number of usability features were implemented. Future work in DESC will use PhoSim as the image simulation tool for data challenges used by the analysis groups.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Dark energy with a triplet of classical U(1) fields

Here, we present a new mechanism for cosmic acceleration consisting of a scalar field coupled to a triplet of classical U(1) gauge fields. The gauge fields are arranged in a homogeneous, isotropic configuration, with both electric- and magneticlike vacuum expectation values. The gauge fields provide a masslike term via a Chern-Simons interaction that suspends the scalar away from its potential minimum, thereby enabling potential-dominated evolution. We show this mechanism can drive a brief period of acceleration, such as dark energy, without the need for fine-tunings. We obtain simple analytic results for the dark energy equation of state and dependence on model parameters. In this model, the presence of the gauge field generically leads to a suppression of long-wavelength gravitational waves, with implications for the experimental search for cosmic microwave background B modes and direct detection of a stochastic gravitational wave background.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Supernova Cosmology with the Dark Energy Survey

This proposal requests supplemental funds to addresses our continued effort to carry out a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) cosmology analysis with the Dark Energy Survey (DES) data. DES is well underway to discovering and identifying thousands of SN Ia out to a cosmological redshift of z =1.2 over its 5-year survey, and will obtain the best constraints on dark energy and its possible evolution with redshift. We propose to develop two key analysis algorithms and tools that are critical for this achieving the goals: 1) a final photometry pipeline that uses novel techniques to extract unbiased SN fluxes from the images and 2) a robust statistical framework for measuring cosmological parameters from SN Ia light curves with well-characterized systematic uncertainties.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Exploiting small-scale information with lensing shear ratios

Using the first three years of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), we use ratios of small-scale galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements around the same lens sample to constrain source redshift uncertainties, intrinsic alignments and other systematics or nuisance parameters of our model. Instead of using a simple geometric approach for the ratios as has been done in the past, we use the full modeling of the galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements, including the corresponding integration over the power spectrum and the contributions from intrinsic alignments and lens magnification. We perform extensive testing of the small-scale shear-ratio (SR) modeling by studying the impact of different effects such as the inclusion of baryonic physics, nonlinear biasing, halo occupation distribution descriptions and lens magnification, among others, and using realistic N -body simulations of the DES data. We validate the robustness of our constraints in the data by using two independent lens samples with different galaxy properties, and by deriving constraints using the corresponding large-scale ratios for which the modeling is simpler. The results applied to the DES Y3 data demonstrate how the ratios provide significant improvements in constraining power for several nuisance parameters in our model, especially on source redshift calibration and intrinsic alignments. For source redshifts, SR improves the constraints from the prior by up to 38% in some redshift bins. Such improvements, and especially the constraints it provides on intrinsic alignments, translate to tighter cosmological constraints when shear ratios are combined with cosmic shear and other 2pt functions. In particular, for the DES Y3 data, SR improves S 8 constraints from cosmic shear by up to 31%, and for the full combination of probes ( 3 × 2 pt ) by up to 10%. The shear ratios presented in this work are used as an additional likelihood for cosmic shear, 2 × 2 pt and the full 3 × 2 pt in the fiducial DES Y3 cosmological analysis.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Searching for the Nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy

DE-SC0019474 supported a multi-pronged approach to understanding dark matter and dark energy. This included probes of dark matter at collider experiments, neutrino detectors, direct detection experiments, and N-body simulations of dark matter halos. This work helps guide our understanding of dark matter, particles associated with a dark matter sector, and how to use current and future experiments to search for direct evidence of dark matter.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Misinterpreting modified gravity as dark energy: a quantitative study

Standard cosmological data analyses typically constrain simple phenomenological dark-energy parameters, for example the present-day value of the equation of state parameter, w 0 , and its variation with scale factor, w a . However, results from such an analysis cannot easily indicate the presence of modified gravity. Even if general relativity does not hold, experimental data could still be fit sufficiently well by a phenomenological w 0 w a CDM, unmodified-gravity model. Hence, it would be very useful to know if there are generic signatures of modified gravity in standard analyses. Here we present, for the first time to our knowledge, a quantitative mapping showing how modified gravity models look when (mis)interpreted within the standard unmodified-gravity analysis. Scanning through a broad space of modified-gravity (Horndeski) models, and assuming a near-future survey consisting of CMB, BAO, and SNIa observations, we report values of the best-fit set of cosmological parameters including (w 0 , w a ) that would be inferred if modified gravity were at work. We find that modified gravity models that can masquerade as standard gravity lead to very specific biases in standard-parameter spaces. Here, we also comment on implications for measurements of the amplitude of mass fluctuations described by the parameter S 8 .

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program: Cosmological Biases from Host Galaxy Mismatch of Type Ia Supernovae

Abstract Redshift measurements, primarily obtained from host galaxies, are essential for inferring cosmological parameters from type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Matching SNe to host galaxies using images is nontrivial, resulting in a subset of SNe with mismatched hosts and thus incorrect redshifts. We evaluate the host galaxy mismatch rate and resulting biases on cosmological parameters from simulations modeled after the Dark Energy Survey 5 Yr (DES-SN5YR) photometric sample. For both DES-SN5YR data and simulations, we employ the directional light radius method for host galaxy matching. In our SN Ia simulations, we find that 1.7% of SNe are matched to the wrong host galaxy, with redshift differences between the true and matched hosts of up to 0.6. Using our analysis pipeline, we determine the shift in the dark energy equation of state parameter (Δ w ) due to including SNe with incorrect host galaxy matches. For SN Ia–only simulations, we find Δ w = 0.0013 ± 0.0026 with constraints from the cosmic microwave background. Including core-collapse SNe and peculiar SNe Ia in the simulation, we find that Δ w ranges from 0.0009 to 0.0032, depending on the photometric classifier used. This bias is an order of magnitude smaller than the expected total uncertainty on w from the DES-SN5YR sample of ∼0.03. We conclude that the bias on w from host galaxy mismatch is much smaller than the uncertainties expected from the DES-SN5YR sample, but we encourage further studies to reduce this bias through better host-matching algorithms or selection cuts.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

SNIa Cosmology Analysis Results from Simulated LSST Images: From Difference Imaging to Constraints on Dark Energy

Abstract The Vera Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) is expected to process ∼10 6 transient detections per night. For precision measurements of cosmological parameters and rates, it is critical to understand the detection efficiency, magnitude limits, artifact contamination levels, and biases in the selection and photometry. Here we rigorously test the LSST Difference Image Analysis (DIA) pipeline using simulated images from the Rubin Observatory LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration Data Challenge (DC2) simulation for the Wide-Fast-Deep survey area. DC2 is the first large-scale (300 deg 2 ) image simulation of a transient survey that includes realistic cadence, variable observing conditions, and CCD image artifacts. We analyze ∼15 deg 2 of DC2 over a 5 yr time span in which artificial point sources from Type Ia supernova (SNIa) light curves have been overlaid onto the images. The magnitude limits per filter are u = 23.66 mag, g = 24.69 mag, r = 24.06 mag, i = 23.45 mag, z = 22.54 mag, and y = 21.62 mag. The artifact contamination levels are ∼90% of all detections, corresponding to ∼1000 artifacts deg –2 in g band, and falling to 300 deg –2 in y band. The photometry has biases <1% for magnitudes 19.5 < m < 23. Our DIA performance on simulated images is similar to that of the Dark Energy Survey difference-imaging pipeline on real images. We also characterize DC2 image properties to produce catalog-level simulations needed for distance bias corrections. We find good agreement between DC2 data and simulations for distributions of signal-to-noise ratio, redshift, and fitted light-curve properties. Applying a realistic SNIa cosmology analysis for redshifts z < 1, we recover the input cosmology parameters to within statistical uncertainties.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

First cosmology results using type Ia supernovae from the Dark Energy Survey: the effect of host galaxy properties on supernova luminosity

ABSTRACT We present improved photometric measurements for the host galaxies of 206 spectroscopically confirmed type Ia supernovae discovered by the Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program (DES-SN) and used in the first DES-SN cosmological analysis. For the DES-SN sample, when considering a 5D (z, x1, c, α, β) bias correction, we find evidence of a Hubble residual ‘mass step’, where SNe Ia in high-mass galaxies (>1010M⊙) are intrinsically more luminous (after correction) than their low-mass counterparts by $\gamma =0.040\pm 0.019$ mag. This value is larger by 0.031 mag than the value found in the first DES-SN cosmological analysis. This difference is due to a combination of updated photometric measurements and improved star formation histories and is not from host-galaxy misidentification. When using a 1D (redshift-only) bias correction the inferred mass step is larger, with $\gamma =0.066\pm 0.020$ mag. The 1D−5D γ difference for DES-SN is $0.026\pm 0.009$ mag. We show that this difference is due to a strong correlation between host galaxy stellar mass and the x1 component of the 5D distance-bias correction. Including an intrinsic correlation between the observed properties of SNe Ia, stretch and colour, and stellar mass in simulated SN Ia samples, we show that a 5D fit recovers γ with −9 mmag bias compared to a +2 mmag bias for a 1D fit. This difference can explain part of the discrepancy seen in the data. Improvements in modelling correlations between galaxy properties and SN is necessary to ensure unbiased precision estimates of the dark energy equation of state as we enter the era of LSST.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Unfolding Structure Formation in the Dark Universe via Weak Gravitational Lensing: from Pixels to Cosmology in the Dark Energy Survey and Roman Space Telescope

Weak gravitational lensing (deflection of light from distant galaxies due to the gravitational potential of intervening mass) is one of the most exciting probes in cosmology as it is sensitive both to the growth of the large-scale structure and the expansion history of the Universe. We can measure the coherent distortion of galaxy shapes (which we call cosmic shear) and infer the matter distribution. With next-generation imaging surveys such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (Rubin LSST) and the Nancy G. Roman Space Telescope (Roman), there is immense new promise in understanding the fundamental nature of dark matter and dark energy. With datasets from current experiments like the Dark Energy Survey (DES), we see apparent cosmological tensions between experiments that may either be real and indicate new physics or new systematics we do not yet understand. LSST and Roman will increase the number of galaxies we have observed by an order of magnitude, leading to improved constraints on our cosmological model by up to 300%. These experiments will have the potential to prove if these cosmological tensions are real. However, our control of systematic uncertainties must also improve by similar levels to achieve the promise of what these missions can deliver. To achieve these scientific outcomes, the challenges of determining galaxy shapes and redshifts and modeling the impact of astrophysical effects must be solved. My PhD has focused on enabling weak lensing science in DES and Roman. I co-led the shear analysis teams in DES to produce the largest weak lensing galaxy sample, as well as the final DES cosmological analysis of cosmic shear. For Roman, I have led two papers characterizing and mitigating shear-related systematics with image simulations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Using SPT polarization, Planck 2015, and non-CMB data to constrain tilted spatially-flat and untilted nonflat ΛCDM, XCDM, and ΦCDM dark energy inflation cosmologies

We use six tilted spatially-flat and untilted non-flat dark energy cosmological models in analyses of South Pole Telescope polarization (SPTpol) cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, alone and in combination with Planck 2015 CMB data and non-CMB data, namely, the Pantheon Type Ia supernovae apparent magnitudes, a collection of baryon acoustic oscillation data points, Hubble parameter measurements, and growth rates. Although the cosmological models that best-fit the Planck CMB and non-CMB data do not provide good fits to the SPTpol data, with the χ2's exceeding the expected value, given the uncertainties, in each model the cosmological parameter constraints from the SPTpol data and from the Planck CMB and non-CMB data are largely mutually consistent. Furthermore, when the smaller angular scale SPTpol data are used jointly with either the Planck data alone or with the Planck CMB and the non-CMB data to constrain untilted non-flat models, spatially-closed models remain favored over their corresponding flat limits. When used in conjunction with Planck data, non-CMB data (baryon acoustic oscillation measurements in particular, from six experiments) have significantly more constraining power than the SPTpol data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dark energy survey year 3 results: High-precision measurement and modeling of galaxy-galaxy lensing

We present and characterize the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal measured using the first three years of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES Y3) covering 4132 deg 2 . These galaxy-galaxy measurements are used in the DES Y3 3 × 2 pt cosmological analysis, which combines weak lensing and galaxy clustering information. We use two lens samples: a magnitude-limited sample and the redmagic sample, which span the redshift range ∼ 0.2 – 1 with 10.7 and 2.6 M galaxies, respectively. For the source catalog, we use the metacalibration shape sample, consisting of ≃ 100 M galaxies separated into four tomographic bins. Our galaxy-galaxy lensing estimator is the mean tangential shear, for which we obtain a total SNR of ∼ 148 for maglim ( ∼ 120 for redmagic), and ∼ 67 ( ∼ 55 ) after applying the scale cuts of 6 Mpc / h . Thus we reach percent-level statistical precision, which requires that our modeling and systematic-error control be of comparable accuracy. The tangential shear model used in the 3 × 2 pt cosmological analysis includes lens magnification, a five-parameter intrinsic alignment model, marginalization over a point mass to remove information from small scales and a linear galaxy bias model validated with higher-order terms. We explore the impact of these choices on the tangential shear observable and study the significance of effects not included in our model, such as reduced shear, source magnification, and source clustering. We also test the robustness of our measurements to various observational and systematics effects, such as the impact of observing conditions, lens-source clustering, random-point subtraction, scale-dependent metacalibration responses, point spread function residuals, and B modes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Dark Energy Survey year 3 results: covariance modelling and its impact on parameter estimation and quality of fit

ABSTRACT We describe and test the fiducial covariance matrix model for the combined two-point function analysis of the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES-Y3) data set. Using a variety of new ansatzes for covariance modelling and testing, we validate the assumptions and approximations of this model. These include the assumption of Gaussian likelihood, the trispectrum contribution to the covariance, the impact of evaluating the model at a wrong set of parameters, the impact of masking and survey geometry, deviations from Poissonian shot noise, galaxy weighting schemes, and other sub-dominant effects. We find that our covariance model is robust and that its approximations have little impact on goodness of fit and parameter estimation. The largest impact on best-fitting figure-of-merit arises from the so-called fsky approximation for dealing with finite survey area, which on average increases the χ2 between maximum posterior model and measurement by $3.7{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ (Δχ2 ≈ 18.9). Standard methods to go beyond this approximation fail for DES-Y3, but we derive an approximate scheme to deal with these features. For parameter estimation, our ignorance of the exact parameters at which to evaluate our covariance model causes the dominant effect. We find that it increases the scatter of maximum posterior values for Ωm and σ8 by about $3{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ and for the dark energy equation-of-state parameter by about $5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Fuzzy dark matter and the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 data

ABSTRACT Gravitational weak lensing by dark matter haloes leads to a measurable imprint in the shear correlation function of galaxies. Fuzzy dark matter (FDM), composed of ultralight axion-like particles of mass m ∼ 10−22 eV, suppresses the matter power spectrum and shear correlation with respect to standard cold dark matter. We model the effect of FDM on cosmic shear using the optimized halo model HMCode, accounting for additional suppression of the mass function and halo concentration in FDM as observed in N-body simulations. We combine Dark Energy Survey Year 1 (DES-Y1) data with the Planck cosmic microwave background anisotropies to search for shear correlation suppression caused by FDM. We find no evidence of suppression compared to the preferred cold dark matter model, and thus set a new lower limit to the FDM particle mass. Using a log-flat prior and marginalizing over uncertainties related to the non-linear model of FDM, we find a new, independent 95 per cent C.L. lower limit log10m > −23 combining Planck and DES-Y1 shear, an improvement of almost two orders of magnitude on the mass bound relative to CMB-only constraints. Our analysis is largely independent of baryonic modelling, and of previous limits to FDM covering this mass range. Our analysis highlights the most important aspects of the FDM non-linear model for future investigation. The limit to FDM from weak lensing could be improved by up to three orders of magnitude with $\mathcal {O}(0.1)$ arcmin cosmic shear angular resolution, if FDM and baryonic feedback can be simultaneously modelled to high precision in the halo model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Inflation and Dark Energy from spectroscopy at $\mathcal{z} > 2$

The expansion of the Universe is understood to have accelerated during two epochs: in its very first moments during a period of Inflation and much more recently, at $\mathcal{z} < 1$, when Dark Energy is hypothesized to drive cosmic acceleration. The undiscovered mechanisms behind these two epochs represent some of the most important open problems in fundamental physics. Most of the processes involved during Inflation impact observations on the very largest spatial scales. Traditionally, these have been accessed through observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). While very powerful, the CMB originates from a 2D surface and the finite number of modes that it contains will largely be measured by experiments over the next decade. Observations of large 3D volumes with large-scale structure (LSS) access similar scales and will dramatically increase the number of available modes. For example, LSS observations in the range $2 \lesssim z \lesssim 5$ can more than triple the volume surveyed at $z \lesssim 2$, and, together with the sufficiently high galaxy number in this interval, strongly motivates a future spectroscopic survey that exploits this opportunity. In addition, tomography allows mapping the growth of structure with redshift, which provides robust constraints on Dark Energy and neutrino masses while relaxing restrictive assumptions such as a power-law primordial power spectrum. Finally, cross-correlation with external tracers, such as CMB lensing, Intensity Mapping or the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest, immunises the constraints to the systematics that make measurement challenging and further improves the precision through ‘sample variance cancellation’ and degeneracy breaking.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗