Figure of merit for dark energy constraints from current observational data
In order to make useful comparisons of different dark energy experiments, it is important to choose the appropriate figure of merit (FoM) for dark energy constraints. Here we show that for a set of dark energy parameters (f{sub i}), it is most intuitive to define FoM=1/{radical}(detCov(f{sub 1},f{sub 2},f{sub 3},...)), where Cov(f{sub 1},f{sub 2},f{sub 3},...) is the covariance matrix of (f{sub i}). In order for this FoM to represent the dark energy constraints in an optimal manner, the dark energy parameters (f{sub i}) should have clear physical meaning and be minimally correlated. We demonstrate two useful choices of (f{sub i}) using 182 SNe Ia (from the HST/GOODS program, the first year Supernova Legacy Survey, and nearby SN Ia surveys), [R(z{sub *}),l{sub a}(z{sub *}),{omega}{sub b}h{sup 2}] from the five year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe observations, and Sloan Digital Sky Survey measurement of the baryon acoustic oscillation scale, assuming the Hubble Space Telescope prior of H{sub 0}=72{+-}8 (km/s) Mpc{sup -1}, and without assuming spatial flatness. We find that for a dark energy equation of state linear in the cosmic scale factor a, the correlation of (w{sub 0},w{sub 0.5}) [w{sub 0}=w{sub X}(z=0), w{sub 0.5}=w{sub X}(z=0.5), with w{sub X}(a)=3w{sub 0.5}-2w{sub 0}+3(w{sub 0}-w{sub 0.5})a] is significantlymore » smaller than that of (w{sub 0},w{sub a}) [with w{sub X}(a)=w{sub 0}+(1-a)w{sub a}]. In order to obtain model-independent constraints on dark energy, we parametrize the dark energy density function X(z)={rho}{sub X}(z)/{rho}{sub X}(0) as a free function with X{sub 0.5}, X{sub 1.0}, and X{sub 1.5} [values of X(z) at z=0.5, 1.0, and 1.5] as free parameters estimated from data. If one assumes a linear dark energy equation of state, current observational data are consistent with a cosmological constant at 68% C.L. If one assumes X(z) to be a free function parametrized by (X{sub 0.5},X{sub 1.0},X{sub 1.5}), current data deviate from a cosmological constant at z=1 at 68% C.L., but are consistent with a cosmological constant at 95% C.L. Future dark energy experiments will allow us to dramatically increase the FoM of constraints on (w{sub 0},w{sub 0.5}), and of (X{sub 0.5},X{sub 1.0},X{sub 1.5}). This will significantly shrink the dark energy parameter space to either enable the discovery of dark energy evolution, or the conclusive evidence for a cosmological constant.« less

title: A robust distance measurement and dark energy constraints from the spherically averaged correlation function of Sloan Digital Sky Survey luminous red Galaxies
abstract: We measure the effective distance to z = 0.26, DV (0.26), and mh 2 from the overall shape of the spherically-averaged two-point correlati on function of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 (DR7) volume-limited luminous red galaxy (LRG) sample, without assuming a dark energy model or a flat Universe. We giv e the mean and covariance matrix of DV (0.26), mh 2 , bh 2 , and ns. We show that these provide an efficient and accurate summary of the volume-limited LRG data. With flat priors on bh 2 and ns (7σWMAP7), we find mh 2 = 0.131 ± 0.020, and rs/DV (0.26) = 0.1466 +0.0068 0.0073 (the ratio of the sound horizon at the drag epoch to the effective distance to z = 0.26). We find that measurements of mh 2 or m are biased low if flux-limited (instead of volume-limited) L RG sample is used. By scaling the spherically-averaged correlation fun ction, we find the Hubble parameter H(0.26) = 79 +12 13 km s 1 Mpc 1 and the angular diameter distance DA(0.26) = 848 +86 88 Mpc. Combining our results with the cosmic microwave background and supernova data, we obtain k = 0.0059 +0.0092 0.0093 andw = 1.023 +0.054 0.053 (assuming a constant dark energy equation of state). We use LasDamas SDSS mock catalogs to compute the covariance matrix of the correlation function, and investigate the use of lognormal catal ogs as an alternative. We find that the input correlation function can be accurately recovered from lognormal catalogs, although they give larger errors on all scales (especially on small sc ales) compared to the mock catalogs derived from cosmological N-body simulations.

title: Dark Energy Search with Supernovae
abstract: To determine the nature of dark energy from observational data, it is important that we use model-independent and optimal methods. We should probe dark energy using its density (allowed to be a free function of cosmic time) instead of its equation of state. We should minimize gravitational lensing effect on supernovae by flux-averaging. We need to include complementary data (for example, from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large scale structure (LSS)) in a consistent manner to help break the degeneracy between the dark energy density and the matter density fraction. We should push for ambitious future supernova surveys that can observe a large number of supernovae at the highest possible redshifts. I discuss these and other issues that will be important in our quest to unravel the mystery of the nature of dark energy. Current supernova, CMB, and LSS data already rule out dark energy models with dark energy densities that vary greatly with time; with the cosmological constant model providing an excellent fit to the data. A precise measurement of dark energy density as a free function of cosmic time will have a fundamental impact on particle physics and cosmology.

title: Dark Energy Constraints from Baryon Acoustic Oscillations
abstract: Baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) in the galaxy power spectrum allow us to extract the scale of the comoving sound horizon at recombination, a cosmological standard ruler accurately determined by the cosmic microwave background anisotropy data. We examine various issues important in the use of BAOs to probe dark energy. We find that if we assume a flat universe and priors on ?m, ?mh2, and ?bh2 as expected from the Planck mission, the constraints on dark energy parameters (w0, w') scale much less steeply with survey area than (area)-1/2 for a given redshift range. The constraints on the dark energy density ?X(z), however, do scale roughly with (area)-1/2 due to the strong correlation between H(z) and ?m (which reduces the effect of priors on ?m). Dark energy constraints from BAOs are very sensitive to the assumed linear scale of matter clustering and the redshift accuracy of the survey. For a BAO survey with 0.5 ? z ? 2, ? (R) = 0.4 [corresponding to kmax (z = 0) = 0.086 h Mpc-1], and ?z/ (1 + z) = 0.001, we find = (0.115,0.183) and (0.069, 0.104) for survey areas of 1000 and 10,000 deg2, respectively. We find that it is critical to minimize the bias in the scale estimates in order to derive reliable dark energy constraints. For a 1000 (10,000) deg2 BAO survey, a 1 ? bias in ln H (z) leads to a 2 ? (3 ?) bias in w'. The bias in w' due to the same scale bias from ln DA (z) is slightly smaller and opposite in sign. The results from this paper will be useful in assessing different proposed BAO surveys and guiding the design of optimal dark energy detection strategies.

title: Wavelets and WMAP non-Gaussianity
abstract: We study the statistical properties of the first-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data on different scales using the spherical Mexican hat wavelet transform. Consistent with the 2004 results of Vielva et al., we find a deviation from Gaussianity in the form of kurtosis of wavelet coefficients on 3-4 scales in the southern Galactic hemisphere. This paper extends the work of Vielva et al. as follows: We find that the non-Gaussian signal shows up more strongly in the form of a larger than expected number of cold pixels and also in the form of scale-scale correlations among wavelet coefficients. We establish the robustness of the non-Gaussian signal under more wide-ranging assumptions regarding the Galactic mask applied to the data and the noise statistics. This signal is unlikely to be due to the usual quadratic term parameterized by the nonlinearity parameter fNL. We use the skewness of the spherical Mexican hat wavelet coefficients to constrain fNL with the first-year WMAP data. Our results constrain fNL to be 50+/-80 at 68% confidence and less than 280 at 99% confidence.

title: Constraints on generalized extended inflationary models.
abstract: We study the physical constraints on generalized extended inflationary theories, in which the Brans-Dicke field {Phi} couples to the inflaton sector in the form of two arbitrary power-law functions of {Phi}. We find that the most stringent constraints arise from the need to suppress large bubbles and from considerations of the density perturbations generated during extended inflation. We find that there are sizable portions of the parameter spaces in which all the constraints are satisfied.

title: Typicality, freak observers and the anthropic principle of existence
abstract: We propose an alternative anthropic probability for calculating the probabilities in eternal inflation. This anthropic probability follows naturally from the weak anthropic principle, and does not suffer the freak observer or the typicality problems. The problem that our observed cosmological constant is not at the peak of the usual anthropic probability distribution is also solved using this proposal.

title: Unified dark fluid with constant adiabatic sound speed and cosmic constraints
abstract: As is known above 90% of the energy content in Universe is made of unknown dark component. Usually this dark fluid is separated into two parts: dark matter and dark energy. However, it may be a mixture of these two energy components, or just one exotic unknown fluid. This property is dubbed as dark degeneracy. With this motivation, in this paper, a unified dark fluid having constant adiabatic sound speed $c_s^2=\alpha$, which is in the range $[0,1]$, is studied. At first, via the energy conservation equation, its energy density, $\rho_d/\rho_{d0}=(1-B_s)+B_s a^{-3(1+\alpha)}$ where $B_s$ is related to integration constant from energy conservation equation as another model parameter, is presented. Then by using Markov Chain Monte Carlo method with currently available cosmic observational data sets which include type Ia supernova Union 2, baryon acoustic oscillation and WMAP 7-year data of cosmic background radiation, we show that small values of $\alpha$ are favored in this unified dark fluid model. Furthermore, we show that smaller values of $\alpha<10^{-5}$ are required to match matter (baryon) power spectrum from SDSS DR7.

title: Probing interaction and spatial curvature in the holographic dark energy model
abstract: In this paper we place observational constraints on the interaction and spatial curvature in the holographic dark energy model. We consider three kinds of phenomenological interactions between holographic dark energy and matter, i.e., the interaction term Q is proportional to the energy densities of dark energy (rho(A)), matter (p(m)), and matter plus dark energy (p(m) + p(A)). For probing the interaction and spatial curvature in the holographic dark energy model, we use the latest observational data including the type la supernovae (SNIa) Constitution data, the shift parameter of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) given by the five-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP5) observations, and the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurement, from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Our results show that, the interaction and spatial curvature in the holographic dark energy model are both rather small. Besides, it is interesting to find that there exists significant degeneracy between the phenomenological interaction and the spatial curvature in the holographic dark energy model.

title: Hadron Production in Au + Au Collisions at 4 A GeV from AGS-E866

title: Characterization and Tuning of A Microwave Gun Cavity
abstract: A microwave electron gun system is being constructed to evaluate the feasibility of using such system as the electron source for the linac pre-injector in storage ring synchrotron radiation sources and for novel linac-based light source R&D at NSRRC. A 2856 MHz SSRL-type microwave gun cavity has been fabricated in house for this purpose. Properties of the cavity resonant modes have been characterized as a function of side-coupled cell plunger position. Special tuning plunger design for this cell allows re-adjustment of field ratio even after brazing. Field amplitude ratio of the cavity full cell to half cell has now been tuned to 2:1. That is the optimized ratio for low energy bunch compression by an alpha magnet.