Physics

Dr. Arka Banerjee
Stanford University, California

Abstract: Over the next two decades, various cosmological surveys will
yield exquisite maps of the observable Universe at various
wavelengths. Converting these raw maps into useful information about
various components of the Universe, such as Dark Matter, massive
neutrinos, and Dark Energy requires precise modeling of the
gravitational evolution of the inhomogeneities in the early Universe.
While this process is well understood for large scales (>~20 Mpc/h)
through perturbation theory based approaches, modeling smaller scales,
where a large fraction of the information resides, presents the next
major challenge in theoretical and computational cosmology. Focusing
on the goal of measuring the total neutrino mass from cosmology, I
will discuss the progress in simulation techniques which are crucial
in probing and understanding structure formation on these smaller
scales. I will discuss how these simulations have allowed us to
explore novel and unique signatures of neutrino mass on cosmological
structure, and how these could possibly be measured in data. Finally,
I will discuss recent progress in using summary statistics beyond the
traditional two-point correlations to better compare survey data and
theoretical predictions to better constrain various parameters of
interest.