Analyzing the Information Content in Gravitational Shadows
K. Patton · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · 2016
In cosmology, we study the universe through the light we observe from distant sources.For this dissertation, I aim to describe my work in helping advance our understanding of the universe through the development of tools for the Dark Energy Survey and related work in the field of weak lensing.I start with an introduction to cosmology and the theory behind our understanding of the Universe.This introduces the idea of Dark Energy and Dark Matter, which together with General Relativity explains the universe as we know it.Following the introduction, I cover various observational probes in cosmology, many of which are used in the Dark Energy Survey.These probes naturally break down into two camps: probes that primarily measure the evolution of distance scales in the universe, and probes that relate to the growth of structure, i.e. the development of galaxies, galaxy clusters, and the clustering of matter.On large scales and at early times the evolution of the universe can be adequately described with linear perturbation theory; similarly, in the non-linear regime methods for predicting the number density and formation history of Dark Matter haloes.The trouble lies in making predictions in the non-linear regime and accurately describing the shapes of the Dark Matter haloes.For this, we rely on simulations of the universe, and I describe the current simulation tools used in cosmology today.Further, I explain how one extracts Fisher information from these simulations and detail a correction factor that I use in my own predictions.From this, I illustrate the details of the Dark Energy Survey and my work on the Dark Energy Camera (DECam).This optical survey will image 5000 square degrees of the Southern Hemisphere in 5 different filter bands and aims to measure the properties of Publications