Astrophysics and Cosmology Seminar
"Cosmology in the Era of Large Surveys"
Ryan Scranton, University of Pittsburgh/Google
1:30 PM, Small Seminar Room, Bldg. 510

Abstract:
The past decade has seen an unprecedented improvement in our 
understanding of the basic picture of the universe. We have gone 
from factors of 2 uncertainties in the age and matter density 
of the universe to better than 10% precision thanks to a vast 
increase in the available survey information. Along the way, 
the depth and breadth of these surveys have made previously 
impossible measurements a reality. I will discuss two such cases: 
detection of cosmic magnification and the integrated Sachs-Wolfe 
effect. Another unexpected benefit of these surveys has been the 
discovery of dark energy. While the current generation has been 
sufficient to demonstrate its existence, we will have to wait 
until the next round of surveys to fully explore the details 
of dark energy behavior throughout the history of the universe. 
I will finish with a discussion of some of the tools we will need 
to develop over the course of the next several years to fully exploit 
the power of future surveys like the LSST, DES and Pan-Starrs.