Probing cosmology with weak lensing Minkowski functionals
In this paper, we show that Minkowski Functionals (MFs) of weak gravitational lensing (WL) convergence maps contain significant non-Gaussian, cosmology-dependent information. To do this, we use a large suite of cosmological ray-tracing N-body simulations to create mock WL convergence maps, and study the cosmological information content of MFs derived from these maps. Our suite consists of 80 independent 512^3 N-body runs, covering seven different cosmologies, varying three cosmological parameters Omega_m, w, and sigma_8 one at a time, around a fiducial LambdaCDM model. In each cosmology, we use ray-tracing to create a thousand pseudo-independent 12 deg^2 convergence maps, and use these in a Monte Carlo procedure to estimate the joint confidence contours on the above three parameters. We include redshift tomography at three different source redshifts z_s=1, 1.5, 2, explore five different smoothing scales theta_G=1, 2, 3, 5, 10 arcmin, and explicitly compare and combine the MFs with the WL power spectrum. We find that the MFs capture a substantial amount of information from non-Gaussian features of convergence maps, i.e. beyond the power spectrum. The MFs are particularly well suited to break degeneracies and to constrain the dark energy equation of state parameter w (by a factor of ~ three better than from the power spectrum alone). The non-Gaussian information derives partly from the one-point function of the convergence (through V_0, the "area" MF), and partly through non-linear spatial information (through combining different smoothing scales for V_0, and through V_1 and V_2, the boundary length and genus MFs, respectively). In contrast to the power spectrum, the best constraints from the MFs are obtained only when multiple smoothing scales are combined.

title: Cosmological information in weak lensing peaks
abstract: Recent studies have shown that the number counts of convergence peaks N(kappa) in weak lensing (WL) maps, expected from large forthcoming surveys, can be a useful probe of cosmology. We follow up on this finding, and use a suite of WL convergence maps, obtained from ray-tracing N-body simulations, to study (i) the physical origin of WL peaks with different heights, and (ii) whether the peaks contain information beyond the convergence power spectrum P_ell. In agreement with earlier work, we find that high peaks (with amplitudes >~ 3.5 sigma, where sigma is the r.m.s. of the convergence kappa) are typically dominated by a single massive halo. In contrast, medium-height peaks (~0.5-1.5 sigma) cannot be attributed to a single collapsed dark matter halo, and are instead created by the projection of multiple (typically, 4-8) halos along the line of sight, and by random galaxy shape noise. Nevertheless, these peaks dominate the sensitivity to the cosmological parameters w, sigma_8, and Omega_m. We find that the peak height distribution and its dependence on cosmology differ significantly from predictions in a Gaussian random field. We directly compute the marginalized errors on w, sigma_8, and Omega_m from the N(kappa) + P_ell combination, including redshift tomography with source galaxies at z_s=1 and z_s=2. We find that the N(kappa) + P_ell combination has approximately twice the cosmological sensitivity compared to P_ell alone. These results demonstrate that N(kappa) contains non-Gaussian information complementary to the power spectrum.

title: Weighing neutrinos with galaxy cluster surveys.
abstract: Large future galaxy cluster surveys, combined with cosmic microwave background observations, can achieve a high sensitivity to the masses of cosmologically important neutrinos. We show that a weak lensing selected sample of > or approximately 100,000 clusters could tighten the current upper bound on the sum of masses of neutrino species by an order of magnitude, to a level of 0.03 eV. Since this statistical sensitivity is below the best existing lower limit on the mass of at least one neutrino species, a future detection is likely, provided that systematic errors can be controlled to a similar level.

title: Constraining the evolution of dark energy with a combination of galaxy cluster observables
abstract: We show that the abundance and redshift distribution (dN/dz) of galaxy clusters in future high-yield cluster surveys, combined with the spatial power spectrum [P{sub c}(k)] of the same clusters, can place significant constraints on the evolution of the dark energy equation of state, w=w(a). We evaluate the expected errors on w{sub a}=-dw/da and other cosmological parameters using a Fisher matrix approach, and simultaneously including cluster structure evolution parameters in our analysis. We study three different types of forthcoming surveys that will identify clusters based on their x-ray emission (such as DUO, the Dark Universe Observatory), their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) decrement (such as SPT, the South Pole Telescope), or their weak-lensing shear (such as LSST, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope). We find that combining the cluster abundance and power spectrum significantly enhances constraints from either method alone. We show that the weak-lensing survey can deliver a constraint as tight as {delta}w{sub a}{approx}0.1 on the evolution of the dark energy equation of state, and that the x-ray and SZ surveys each yield {delta}w{sub a}{approx}0.4 separately, or {delta}w{sub a}{approx}0.2 when these two surveys are combined. For the x-ray and SZ surveys, constraints on dark energy parameters are improved by a factor of 2 bymore » combining the cluster data with cosmic microwave background anisotropy measurements by Planck, but degrade by a factor of 2 if the survey is required to solve simultaneously for cosmological and cluster structure evolution parameters. The constraint on w{sub a} from the weak-lensing survey is improved by {approx}25% with the addition of Planck data.« less

title: Is modified gravity required by observations? An empirical consistency test of dark energy models
abstract: We apply the technique of parameter splitting to existing cosmological data sets, to check for a generic failure of dark energy models. Given a dark energy parameter, such as the energy density {omega}{sub {lambda}} or equation of state w, we split it into two meta-parameters with one controlling geometrical distances, and the other controlling the growth of structure. Observational data spanning Type Ia Supernovae, the cosmic microwave background (CMB), galaxy clustering, and weak gravitational lensing statistics are fit without requiring the two meta-parameters to be equal. This technique checks for inconsistency between different data sets, as well as for internal inconsistency within any one data set (e.g., CMB or lensing statistics) that is sensitive to both geometry and growth. We find that the cosmological constant model is consistent with current data. Theories of modified gravity generally predict a relation between growth and geometry that is different from that of general relativity. Parameter splitting can be viewed as a crude way to parametrize the space of such theories. Our analysis of current data already appears to put sharp limits on these theories: assuming a flat universe, current data constrain the difference {delta}{omega}{sub {lambda}}={omega}{sub {lambda}}(geom)-{omega}{sub {lambda}}(grow) to be -0.0044{sub -0.0057-0.0119}{sup +0.0058+0.0108} (68%more » and 95% C.L. respectively); allowing the equation of state w to vary, the difference {delta}w=w(geom)-w(grow) is constrained to be 0.37{sub -0.36-0.53}{sup +0.37+1.09}. Interestingly, the region w(grow)>w(geom), which should be generically favored by theories that slow structure formation relative to general relativity, is quite restricted by data already. We find w(grow)<-0.80 at 2{sigma}. As an example, the best-fit flat Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati model approximated by our parametrization lies beyond the 3{sigma} contour for constraints from all the data sets.« less

title: LSST Science Book, Version 2.0
abstract: A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over 20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.

title: GENERALIZED HOLOGRAPHIC DARK ENERGY AND ITS OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS
abstract: In the original holographic dark energy (HDE) model, the dark energy density is proposed to be rho(de) = 3c(2)M(P)(2)L(-2), with c a dimensionless constant characterizing the properties of the HDE. In this work, we propose the generalized holographic dark energy (GHDE) model by considering the parameter c as a redshift-dependent function c(z). We derive all the physical quantities of the GHDE model analytically, and fit the c(z) by trying four kinds of parametrizations. The cosmological constraints of the c(z) are obtained from the joint analysis of the present SNLS3+BAO+CMB+H-0 data. We find that, compared with the original HDE model, the GHDE models can provide a better fit to the data. For example, the GHDE model with JBP-type c(z) can reduce the chi(2)(min) of the HDE model by 2.16. We also find that, unlike the original HDE model with a phantom-like behavior in the future, the GHDE models can present many more different possibilities, i.e. it allows the GHDE in the future to be either quintessence-like, cosmological constant-like, or phantom-like, depending on the forms of c(z).

title: Search for Higgs bosons produced in association with b quarks
abstract: We present a search for neutral Higgs bosons φ decaying into bb¯, produced in association with b quarks in ppb¯ collisions. This process could be observable in supersymmetric models with high values of tan β. The event sample corresponds to 2.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. We search for an enhancement in the mass of the two leading jets in events with three jets identified as coming from b quarks using a displaced vertex algorithm. A data-driven procedure is used to estimate the dijet mass spectrum of the nonresonant multijet background. The contributions of backgrounds and a possible Higgs boson signal are determined by a two-dimensional fit of the data, using the dijet mass together with an additional variable which is sensitive to the flavor composition of the three tagged jets. We set mass-dependent limits on σ(ppb¯ = φb) x Β(φ= bb¯) which are applicable for a narrow scalar particle φ produced in association with b quarks. We also set limits on tan β in supersymmetric Higgs models including the effects of the Higgs boson width.

title: Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a bb pair in events with one charged lepton and large missing transverse energy using the full CDF data set.
abstract: We present a search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a W boson in sqrt[s]=1.96  TeV pp collision data collected with the CDF II detector at the Tevatron corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45  fb(-1). In events consistent with the decay of the Higgs boson to a bottom-quark pair and the W boson to an electron or muon and a neutrino, we set 95% credibility level upper limits on the WH production cross section times the H→bb branching ratio as a function of Higgs boson mass. At a Higgs boson mass of 125  GeV/c(2), we observe (expect) a limit of 4.9 (2.8) times the standard model value.

title: Measurement of the top quark mass in the all-hadronic mode at CDF
abstract: A measurement of the top quark mass ( M top ) in the all-hadronic decay channel is presented. It uses 5.8 fb−1 of p p ¯ data collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Events with six to eight jets are selected by a neural network algorithm and by the requirement that at least one of the jets is tagged as a b-quark jet. The measurement is performed with a likelihood fit technique, which simultaneously determines M top and the jet energy scale (JES) calibration. The fit yields a value of M top = 172.5 ± 1.4 ( stat ) ± 1.0 ( JES ) ± 1.1 ( syst ) GeV / c 2 .

title: Probing cosmic acceleration by using the SNLS3 SNIa dataset
abstract: We probe the cosmic acceleration by using the recently released SNLS3 sample of 472 type Ia supernovae. Combining this type Ia supernovae dataset with the cosmic microwave background anisotropy data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7-yr observations, the baryon acoustic oscillation results from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data release 7, and the Hubble constant measurement from the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope, we measure the dark energy equation of state w and the deceleration parameter q as functions of redshift by using the Chevallier-Polarski-Linder parametrization. Our result is consistent with a cosmological constant at 1σ confidence level, without evidence for the recent slowing down of the cosmic acceleration. Furthermore, we consider three binned parametrizations (w is piecewise constant in redshift z) based on different binning methods. The similar results are obtained, i.e., the ΛCDM model is still nicely compatible with current observations.