4.7 Review

Observational probes of cosmic acceleration

Journal

PHYSICS REPORTS-REVIEW SECTION OF PHYSICS LETTERS
Volume 530, Issue 2, Pages 87-255

Publisher

ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.physrep.2013.05.001

Keywords

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Funding

  1. National Science Foundation
  2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  3. Department of Energy Office of Science
  4. NSF [AST-0707725, AST-0707985, AST-0807337, AST-1009505]
  5. NASA [NNX07AH11G1320, PF9-00068]
  6. DOE [DE-FG03-02-ER40701, DE-SC0006624]
  7. Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics (CCAPP) at Ohio State University
  8. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
  9. David & Lucile Packard Foundation
  10. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-SC0006624] Funding Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
  11. Division Of Astronomical Sciences
  12. Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [1009505] Funding Source: National Science Foundation

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The accelerating expansion of the universe is the most surprising cosmological discovery in many decades, implying that the universe is dominated by some form of dark energy with exotic physical properties, or that Einstein's theory of gravity breaks down on cosmological scales. The profound implications of cosmic acceleration have inspired ambitious efforts to understand its origin, with experiments that aim to measure the history of expansion and growth of structure with percent-level precision or higher. We review in detail the four most well established methods for making such measurements: Type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations (BAD), weak gravitational lensing, and the abundance of galaxy clusters. We pay particular attention to the systematic uncertainties in these techniques and to strategies for controlling them at the level needed to exploit Stage IV dark energy facilities such as BigBOSS, LSST, Euclid, and WFIRST. We briefly review a number of other approaches including redshift-space distortions, the Alcock-Paczynski effect, and direct measurements of the Hubble constant H-0. We present extensive forecasts for constraints on the dark energy equation of state and parameterized deviations from General Relativity, achievable with Stage III and Stage IV experimental programs that incorporate supernovae, BAD, weak lensing, and cosmic microwave background data. We also show the level of precision required for clusters or other methods to provide constraints competitive with those of these fiducial programs. We emphasize the value of a balanced program that employs several of the most powerful methods in combination, both to cross-check systematic uncertainties and to take advantage of complementary information. Surveys to probe cosmic acceleration produce data sets that support a wide range of scientific investigations, and they continue the longstanding astronomical tradition of mapping the universe in ever greater detail over ever larger scales. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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