Large Synoptic Survey Telescope: Dark Energy Science Collaboration
This white paper describes the LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC), whose goal is the study of dark energy and related topics in fundamental physics with data from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). It provides an overview of dark energy science and describes the current and anticipated state of the field. It makes the case for the DESC by laying out a robust analytical framework for dark energy science that has been defined by its members and the comprehensive three-year work plan they have developed for implementing that framework. The analysis working groups cover five key probes of dark energy: weak lensing, large scale structure, galaxy clusters, Type Ia supernovae, and strong lensing. The computing working groups span cosmological simulations, galaxy catalogs, photon simulations and a systematic software and computational framework for LSST dark energy data analysis. The technical working groups make the connection between dark energy science and the LSST system. The working groups have close linkages, especially through the use of the photon simulations to study the impact of instrument design and survey strategy on analysis methodology and cosmological parameter estimation. The white paper describes several high priority tasks identified by each of the 16 working groups. Over the next three years these tasks will help prepare for LSST analysis, make synergistic connections with ongoing cosmological surveys and provide the dark energy community with state of the art analysis tools. Members of the community are invited to join the LSST DESC, according to the membership policies described in the white paper. Applications to sign up for associate membership may be made by submitting the Web form at http://www.slac.stanford.edu/exp/lsst/desc/signup.html with a short statement of the work they wish to pursue that is relevant to the LSST DESC.

title: DARK MATTER HALO PROFILES OF MASSIVE CLUSTERS: THEORY VERSUS OBSERVATIONS
abstract: Dark-matter-dominated cluster-scale halos act as an important cosmological probe and provide a key testing ground for structure formation theory. Focusing on their mass profiles, we have carried out (gravity-only) simulations of the concordance ΛCDM cosmology, covering a mass range of 2 × 1012 to 2 × 1015 h –1 M ☉ and a redshift range of z = 0-2, while satisfying the associated requirements of resolution and statistical control. When fitting to the Navarro-Frenk-White profile, our concentration-mass (c-M) relation differs in normalization and shape in comparison to previous studies that have limited statistics in the upper end of the mass range. We show that the flattening of the c-M relation with redshift is naturally expressed if c is viewed as a function of the peak height parameter, ν. Unlike the c-M relation, the slope of the c-ν relation is effectively constant over the redshift range z = 0-2, while the amplitude varies by ~30% for massive clusters. This relation is, however, not universal: using a simulation suite covering the allowed wCDM parameter space, we show that the c-ν relation varies by about ±20% as cosmological parameters are varied. At fixed mass, the c(M) distribution is well fit by a Gaussian with σ c /c 1/3, independent of the radius at which the concentration is defined, the halo dynamical state, and the underlying cosmology. We compare the ΛCDM predictions with observations of halo concentrations from strong lensing, weak lensing, galaxy kinematics, and X-ray data, finding good agreement for massive clusters (M vir > 4 × 1014 h –1 M ☉), but with some disagreements at lower masses. Because of uncertainty in observational systematics and modeling of baryonic physics, the significance of these discrepancies remains unclear.

title: Joint Efficient Dark-energy Investigation (JEDI): a Candidate Implementation of the NASA-DOE Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM)
abstract: JEDI will probe dark energy in three independent ways by measuring the expansion history of the universe: (1) using type Ia supernovae as cosmological standard candles over a range of distances, (2) using baryon oscillations as a cosmological standard ruler over a range of cosmic epochs, (3) mapping the weak gravitational lensing distortion by foreground galaxies of the images of background galaxies at different distances. JEDI will unravel the nature of dark energy with accuracy and precision. 
JEDI is a 2m-class space telescope with the unique ability of simultaneous wide-field imaging (0.8-4.2 micron in five bands) and multi-slit spectroscopy (0.8-3.2 micron) with a field of view of 1 square degree. What makes JEDI efficient is its ability to simultaneously obtain high signal-to-noise ratio, moderate resolution slit spectra for all supernovae and ~ 5000 galaxies in its wide field of view, and to combine imaging and spectroscopy so that the appropriate balance of time is devoted to each. 
JEDI will measure the cosmic expansion history H(z) as a free function to 10^9 galaxies to H \~ 25.

title: CHAOS IN TIME-DEPENDENT VARIATIONAL APPROXIMATIONS TO QUANTUM DYNAMICS
abstract: Dynamical chaos has recently been shown to exist in the Gaussian approximation in quan-tum mechanics and in the self-consistent mean ﬁeld approach to studying the dynamics ofquantum ﬁelds. In this study, we ﬁrst show that any variationalapproximationto the dynam-ics of a quantum system based on the Dirac action principle leads to a classical Hamiltoniandynamics for the variational parameters. Since this Hamiltonian is generically nonlinearand nonintegrable, the dynamics thus generated can be chaotic, in distinction to the exactquantum evolution. We then restrict attention to a system of two biquadratically coupledquantum oscillators and study two variational schemes, the leading order large N (fourcanonical variables) and Hartree (six canonical variables) approximations. The chaos seenin the approximate dynamics is an artifact of the approximations: this is demonstrated bythe fact that its onset occurs on the same characteristic time scale as the breakdown of theapproximations when compared to numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schr¨odingerequation.PACS numbers: 05.45. +b, 03.65. Sq, 2.30 Wd,

title: COMPUTATIONAL CHALLENGES IN HIGH INTENSITY ION BEAM PHYSICS

title: COSMIC EMULATION: THE CONCENTRATION-MASS RELATION FOR wCDM UNIVERSES
abstract: The concentration-mass relation for dark matter-dominated halos is one of the essential results expected from a theory of structure formation. We present a simple prediction scheme, a cosmic emulator, for the concentration-mass (c-M) relation as a function of cosmological parameters for wCDM models. The emulator is constructed from 37 individual models, with three nested N-body gravity-only simulations carried out for each model. The mass range covered by the emulator is 2 × 1012 M ☉ < M < 1015 M ☉ with a corresponding redshift range of z = 0-1. Over this range of mass and redshift, as well as the variation of cosmological parameters studied, the mean halo concentration varies from c ~ 2 to c ~ 8. The distribution of the concentration at fixed mass is Gaussian with a standard deviation of one-third of the mean value, almost independent of cosmology, mass, and redshift over the ranges probed by the simulations. We compare results from the emulator with previously derived heuristic analytic fits for the c-M relation, finding that they underestimate the halo concentration at high masses. Using the emulator to investigate the cosmology dependence of the c-M relation over the currently allowable range of values, we find—not surprisingly—that σ8 and ω m influence it considerably, but also that the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w has a substantial effect. In general, the concentration of lower-mass halos is more sensitive to changes in cosmological parameters as compared to cluster mass halos. The c-M emulator is publicly available from http://www.hep.anl.gov/cosmology/CosmicEmu.

title: A Combined Three-Phase Signal Extraction of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Data Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo Technique
abstract: Neutrino physics has entered an era of precision, after proving that the Standard Solar Model is a viable theory and going beyond the current Standard Model of particle physics by proving that neutrinos possess nonzero masses. The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) experiment, along with other experiments, has restricted neutrino mixing angle (θ12) and the mass square difference (∆m21) to lie within the large mixing solution area. SNO, located 2 km underground in Sudbury, Canada, was an ultraclean heavy-water (D2O) imaging detector for observing neutrinos produced by fusion reactions in the Sun. Neutrino interactions with heavy water resulted in flashes of light called C̆erenkov radiation which was detected by an array of photomultiplier tubes. SNO took data from November 1999 to November 2006, totalling 1082 days of data taking. This work describes an improved measurement of the mixing parameters from a combined fit of all the data. For the signal extraction fit on the data consisting of 4 observable of an event – radial position, recoil electron energy, direction relative to the Sun and event isotropy – Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method based on Metropolis algorithm was employed. The nuisance parameters (systematics), weighted by external constraints, were allowed to vary in the fit. The goal of the thesis was to extract the survival probabilities of electron neutrinos and determine the total flux of active-flavour neutrinos from B decay in the Sun measured through the neutral current interactions of neutrinos on deuterium. The B flux from the fit is (5.24 ± 0.02) × 10 cm−2 s−1; uncertainty from statistics and systematics is 3.56%. Along with B flux, the fit extracted energy spectra of charged current interactions of neutrinos on deuterium and elastic scattering interactions of neutrinos on electrons. The fit described the energy-dependent day survival probability of solar neutrinos as a quadratic equation and asymmetry on the day survival probability as a linear equation. Four polynomial coefficients of the survival probability were extracted from the fit: constant coefficient as 0.3206± 0.0197, linear coefficient as 0.005± 0.008 and quadratic coefficient as −0.0014± 0.0033. There are two coefficients on the day-night asymmetry: constant coefficient as 0.0496 ± 0.0347 and the linear coefficient as −0.018 ± 0.028. The day-night asymmetry (0.0496) observed is 1.4σ away from zero. Using these findings, the oscillation space in terms of ∆m21 and θ12 will be further constrained. Compared to the previous published SNO results, the uncertainty on B went down from 3.83% to 3.56% and average B νe survival probability (p0) went down from 6.57% to 6.14%. If the data were analysed with the same assumptions, the decrease in uncertainties would have been approximately twice as big; however, more conservative systematic uncertainties were assigned in some cases.

title: Measurement of inclusive and dijet D∗ meson cross sections in photoproduction at HERA
abstract: The inclusive photoproduction of D∗ mesons and of D∗-tagged dijets is investigated with the H1 detector at the ep collider HERA. The kinematic region covers small photon virtualities Q2<2 GeV2 and photon–proton centre-of-mass energies of 100<Wγp<285 GeV. Inclusive D∗ meson differential cross sections are measured for central rapidities |η(D∗)|<1.5 and transverse momenta pT(D∗)>1.8 GeV. The heavy quark production process is further investigated in events with at least two jets with transverse momentum pT(jet)>3.5 GeV each, one containing the D∗ meson. Differential cross sections for D∗-tagged dijet production and for correlations between the jets are measured in the range |η(D∗)|<1.5 and pT(D∗)>2.1 GeV. The results are compared with predictions from Monte Carlo simulations and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations.

title: Search for dark matter and large extra dimensions in pp collisions yielding a photon and missing transverse energy.
abstract: Results are presented from a search for new physics in the final state containing a photon (γ) and missing transverse energy (E[combininb /](T)). The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb(-1) collected in pp collisions at √[s]=7 TeV by the CMS experiment. The observed event yield agrees with standard-model expectations for the γ+E[combininb /](T) events. Using models for the production of dark-matter particles (χ), we set 90% confidence level (C.L.) upper limits of 13.6-15.4 fb on χ production in the γ+E[combininb /](T) state. These provide the most sensitive upper limits for spin-dependent χ-nucleon scattering for χ masses (M(χ)) between 1 and 100 GeV. For spin-independent contributions, the present limits are extended to M(χ)<3.5 GeV. For models with 3-6 large extra dimensions, our data exclude extra-dimensional Planck scales between 1.64 and 1.73 TeV at 95% C.L.

title: Measurement of the inclusive ep scattering cross section at low Q2 and x at HERA
abstract: A measurement of the inclusive ep scattering cross section is presented in the region of low momentum transfers, 0.2 GeV2 ≤Q2≤12 GeV2, and low Bjorken x, 5⋅10−6≤x≤0.02. The result is based on two data sets collected in dedicated runs by the H1 Collaboration at HERA at beam energies of 27.6 GeV and 920 GeV for positrons and protons, respectively. A combination with data previously published by H1 leads to a cross section measurement of a few percent accuracy. A kinematic reconstruction method exploiting radiative ep events extends the measurement to lower Q2 and larger x. The data are compared with theoretical models which apply to the transition region from photoproduction to deep inelastic scattering.

title: Inclusive measurement of diffractive deep-inelastic scattering at HERA
abstract: The diffractive process ep→eXY, where Y denotes a proton or its low mass excitation with MY<1.6 GeV, is studied with the H1 experiment at HERA. The analysis is restricted to the phase space region of the photon virtuality 3 ≤ Q2 ≤ 1600 GeV2, the square of the four-momentum transfer at the proton vertex |t|< 1.0 GeV2 and the longitudinal momentum fraction of the incident proton carried by the colourless exchange xℙ<0.05.\printthanksTriple differential cross sections are measured as a function of xℙ, Q2 and β=x/xℙ where x is the Bjorken scaling variable. These measurements are made after selecting diffractive events by demanding a large empty rapidity interval separating the final state hadronic systems X and Y. High statistics measurements covering the data taking periods 1999–2000 and 2004–2007 are combined with previously published results in order to provide a single set of diffractive cross sections from the H1 experiment using the large rapidity gap selection method. The combined data represent a factor between three and thirty increase in statistics with respect to the previously published results. The measurements are compared with predictions from NLO QCD calculations based on diffractive parton densities and from a dipole model. The proton vertex factorisation hypothesis is tested.