Power Spectrum of the Ly-alpha forest: Cosmological and Particle Physics applications

por Jordi Miralda (ICCUB)

martes 11 oct. 2011 12:00 → 13:00 Europe/Madrid

Sala de Reuniones (Nave experimental del IFIC)

Massive spectroscopic surveys of high-redshift quasars yield large numbers of correlated Lyman-alpha absorption spectra that can be used to measure large-scale correlations. A sample of approximately 14,000 z>2.1 quasars observed in the first year of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) led to the first measurement of the three-dimensional correlation function of absorption in the Lyman-alpha forest. These observations set the stage for cosmological parameter determinations from three-dimensional structure in the Lyman-alpha forest, including anticipated constraints on dark energy from baryon acoustic oscillations. I discuss the cosmological and particle physics implications of the future Lyman-alpha BOSS absorption spectra.