PhD position on cosmology (CEA Paris-Saclay): Testing neutrino masses and dark energy with galaxy clustering and weak lensing from the Euclid survey

PhD position on cosmology (CEA Paris-Saclay): Testing neutrino masses and dark energy with galaxy clustering and weak lensing from the Euclid survey

Position: PhD 3 years, CEA Paris-Saclay DAp
Deadline:  14/03/2023 starting in Oct 2023 
Contacts: V.Pettorino, M. Kilbinger, Isaac Tutusaus (Toulouse)

Details about this position are provided in the following PDF.

TOSCA PhD position on cosmology (Nice, France): Machine learning for gravitational lensing analysis of massive radio surveys

TOSCA PhD position on cosmology (Nice France): Machine learning for gravitational lensing analysis of massive radio surveys

Position: PhD 3 years, Nice France
Deadline:  31/05/2023 starting in October 2023 
Contacts: See attached pdf

Details about this position are provided in the following PDF.

Early dark energy in the pre- and post-recombination epochs

Early dark energy in the pre- and postrecombination epochs

 

Authors:

  Adrià Gómez-ValentZiyang ZhengLuca AmendolaValeria PettorinoChristof Wetterich

Journal:
PRD
Year: 07/2021
Download: PRD | Arxiv


Abstract

Dark energy could play a role at redshifts zO(1). Many quintessence models possess scaling or attractor solutions where the fraction of dark energy follows the dominant component in previous epochs of the Universe’s expansion, or phase transitions may happen close to the time of matter-radiation equality. A non-negligible early dark energy (EDE) fraction around matter-radiation equality could contribute to alleviate the well-known H0 tension. In this work, we constrain the fraction of EDE using two approaches: first, we use a fluid parameterization that mimics the plateaux of the dominant components in the past. An alternative tomographic approach constrains the EDE density in binned redshift intervals. The latter allows us to reconstruct the evolution of Ωde(z) before and after the decoupling of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons. We have employed Planck data 2018, the Pantheon compilation of supernovae of Type Ia (SNIa), data on galaxy clustering, the prior on the absolute magnitude of SNIa by SH0ES, and weak lensing data from KiDS+VIKING450 and DES-Y1. When we use a minimal parameterization mimicking the background plateaux, EDE has only a small impact on current cosmological tensions. We show how the constraints on the EDE fraction weaken considerably when its sound speed is allowed to vary. By means of our binned analysis we put very tight constraints on the EDE fraction around the CMB decoupling time, 0.4% at 2σ c.l. We confirm previous results that a significant EDE fraction in the radiation-dominated epoch loosens the H0 tension, but tends to worsen the tension for σ8. A subsequent presence of EDE in the matter-dominated era helps to alleviate this issue. When both the SH0ES prior and weak lensing data are considered in the fitting analysis in combination with data from CMB, SNIa and baryon acoustic oscillations, the EDE fractions are constrained to be 2.6% in the radiation-dominated epoch and 1.5% in the redshift range z(100,1000) at 2σ c.l. The two tensions remain with a statistical significance of 23σ c.l. 

Press release (in Italian) by MEDIA INAF is available here.

 

Starlet l1-norm for weak lensing cosmology

Starlet l1-norm for weak lensing cosmology

 

Authors:

Virginia Ajani, Jean-Luc Starck, Valeria Pettorino

Journal:
Astronomy & Astrophysics , Forthcoming article, Letters to the Editor
Year: 01/2021
Download: A&A| Arxiv


Abstract

We present a new summary statistic for weak lensing observables, higher than second order, suitable for extracting non-Gaussian cosmological information and inferring cosmological parameters. We name this statistic the 'starlet 1-norm' as it is computed via the sum of the absolute values of the starlet (wavelet) decomposition coefficients of a weak lensing map. In comparison to the state-of-the-art higher-order statistics -- weak lensing peak counts and minimum counts, or the combination of the two -- the 1-norm provides a fast multi-scale calculation of the full void and peak distribution, avoiding the problem of defining what a peak is and what a void is: The 1-norm carries the information encoded in all pixels of the map, not just the ones in local maxima and minima. We show its potential by applying it to the weak lensing convergence maps provided by the MassiveNus simulations to get constraints on the sum of neutrino masses, the matter density parameter, and the amplitude of the primordial power spectrum. We find that, in an ideal setting without further systematics, the starlet 1-norm remarkably outperforms commonly used summary statistics, such as the power spectrum or the combination of peak and void counts, in terms of constraining power, representing a promising new unified framework to simultaneously account for the information encoded in peak counts and voids. We find that the starlet 1-norm outperforms the power spectrum by 72% on Mν60% on Ωm, and 75% on As for the Euclid-like setting considered; it also improves upon the state-of-the-art combination of peaks and voids for a single smoothing scale by 24% on Mν50% on Ωm, and 24% on As.

Euclid: impact of nonlinear prescriptions on cosmological parameter estimation from weak lensing cosmic shear

Euclid: impact of nonlinear prescriptions on cosmological parameter estimation from weak lensing cosmic shear


Abstract

Upcoming surveys will map the growth of large-scale structure with unprecented precision, improving our understanding of the dark sector of the Universe. Unfortunately, much of the cosmological information is encoded by the small scales, where the clustering of dark matter and the effects of astrophysical feedback processes are not fully understood. This can bias the estimates of cosmological parameters, which we study here for a joint analysis of mock Euclid cosmic shear and Planck cosmic microwave background data. We use different implementations for the modelling of the signal on small scales and find that they result in significantly different predictions. Moreover, the different nonlinear corrections lead to biased parameter estimates, especially when the analysis is extended into the highly nonlinear regime, with both the Hubble constant, H0, and the clustering amplitude, σ8, affected the most. Improvements in the modelling of nonlinear scales will therefore be needed if we are to resolve the current tension with more and better data. For a given prescription for the nonlinear power spectrum, using different corrections for baryon physics does not significantly impact the precision of Euclid, but neglecting these correction does lead to large biases in the cosmological parameters. In order to extract precise and unbiased constraints on cosmological parameters from Euclid cosmic shear data, it is therefore essential to improve the accuracy of the recipes that account for nonlinear structure formation, as well as the modelling of the impact of astrophysical processes that redistribute the baryons.

Effect of nonlinear prescriptions

 

Euclid preparation: VII. Forecast validation for Euclid cosmological probes

Euclid: impact of nonlinear prescriptions on cosmological parameter estimation from weak lensing cosmic shear


Abstract

Aims: The Euclid space telescope will measure the shapes and redshifts of galaxies to reconstruct the expansion history of the Universe and the growth of cosmic structures. The estimation of the expected performance of the experiment, in terms of predicted constraints on cosmological parameters, has so far relied on various individual methodologies and numerical implementations, which were developed for different observational probes and for the combination thereof. In this paper we present validated forecasts, which combine both theoretical and observational ingredients for different cosmological probes. This work is presented to provide the community with reliable numerical codes and methods for Euclid cosmological forecasts.
Methods: We describe in detail the methods adopted for Fisher matrix forecasts, which were applied to galaxy clustering, weak lensing, and the combination thereof. We estimated the required accuracy for Euclid forecasts and outline a methodology for their development. We then compare and improve different numerical implementations, reaching uncertainties on the errors of cosmological parameters that are less than the required precision in all cases. Furthermore, we provide details on the validated implementations, some of which are made publicly available, in different programming languages, together with a reference training-set of input and output matrices for a set of specific models. These can be used by the reader to validate their own implementations if required.
Results: We present new cosmological forecasts for Euclid. We find that results depend on the specific cosmological model and remaining freedom in each setting, for example flat or non-flat spatial cosmologies, or different cuts at non-linear scales. The numerical implementations are now reliable for these settings. We present the results for an optimistic and a pessimistic choice for these types of settings. We demonstrate that the impact of cross-correlations is particularly relevant for models beyond a cosmological constant and may allow us to increase the dark energy figure of merit by at least a factor of three.

 

Dark Energy tomography with the Euclid survey

PhD topic on Dark Energy tomography with the Euclid satellite

Position: PhD
Deadline:  15/04/2021
Contact: Valeria Pettorino

Details about this position are provided in the following PDF.

Interested candidates should send a CV and exam record to Valeria Pettorino, and arrange for 2 reference letters to be sent separately. The application e-mail should be preferably in English. Knowledge of cosmology, general relativity or previous use of CAMB/CLASS codes are an advantage. 
Projects are not funded yet and decision on fundings is expected for Spring 2021. In the meantime, shortlisted candidates will be asked to register to ADUM https://www.adum.fr/. 

Hybrid Pℓ(k): general, unified, non-linear matter power spectrum in redshift space

Hybrid Pℓ(k): general, unified, non-linear matter power spectrum in redshift space

 

Authors:

Journal:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Issue 09, article id. 001 (2020)
Year: 09/2020
Download: Inspire| Arxiv | DOI

Hybrid Pl(k): general, unified, non-linear matter power spectrum in redshift space


Abstract

Constraints on gravity and cosmology will greatly benefit from performing joint clustering and weak lensing analyses on large-scale structure data sets. Utilising non-linear information coming from small physical scales can greatly enhance these constraints. At the heart of these analyses is the matter power spectrum. Here we employ a simple method, dubbed "Hybrid Pl(k)", based on the Gaussian Streaming Model (GSM), to calculate the quasi non-linear redshift space matter power spectrum multipoles. This employs a fully non-linear and theoretically general prescription for the matter power spectrum. We test this approach against comoving Lagrangian acceleration simulation measurements performed in GR, DGP and f(R) gravity and find that our method performs comparably or better to the dark matter TNS redshift space power spectrum model {for dark matter. When comparing the redshift space multipoles for halos, we find that the Gaussian approximation of the GSM with a linear bias and a free stochastic term, N, is competitive to the TNS model.} Our approach offers many avenues for improvement in accuracy as well as further unification under the halo model.

Hybrid Pk