Improving dark energy measurements by controlling systematics in the point spread function and redshift distribution
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Most of the universe is made up of dark energy, but we are unsure of its fundamental nature. Large, wide-field optical galaxy surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey (DES) seek to measure any time variation in dark energy through its impact on the growth of large scale structure. Among the many features that must be controlled in order to achieve this measurement are the point spread function (PSF) and redshift distribution. In the first half of my thesis I will present a physically motivated model for the optical and atmospheric portions of the PSF and apply them to DES data. In the second half of my thesis I will turn to the measurement and calibration of redshift distributions. First, I present `clustering redshifts, ' a novel method of calibrating the redshift distributions of an ensemble of galaxies using their correlations with quasi-spectroscopic tracers of large scale structure, such as galaxy clusters. Then, I present a calibration of the DES Year 1 source redshift distributions using these clustering redshifts. Finally, I present a scheme for calibrating redshift distributions using self-organizing maps and overlapping infrared data. Both threads of this thesis will be useful for future cosmological galaxy surveys like the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Euclid, and the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2018; ©2018 |
| Publication date | 2018; 2018 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Davis, Christopher Paul |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Roodman, Aaron J. (Aaron Jay), 1964- |
| Thesis advisor | Roodman, Aaron J. (Aaron Jay), 1964- |
| Thesis advisor | Burchat, P. (Patricia) |
| Thesis advisor | Wechsler, Risa H. (Risa Heyrman) |
| Degree committee member | Burchat, P. (Patricia) |
| Degree committee member | Wechsler, Risa H. (Risa Heyrman) |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Physics. |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Christopher Paul Davis. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2018. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2018 by Christopher P. Davis
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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