Improving the Precision of Dark Energy Measurements: An Imperative for LSST.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will be a powerful tool for addressing the crisis in fundamental physics that has been precipitated by the discovery of dark energy. Type Ia supernovae provided the initial evidence for accelerating cosmic expansion, and are among the dark energy probes planned for LSST. But supernova cosmology is currently limited by systematic uncertainties in flux calibration. I will provide a quick review of the status of the LSST project, and will describe how we intend to improve upon the calibration of the measurement of fluxes, shapes and positions of celestial sources. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will be a powerful tool for addressing the crisis in fundamental physics that has been precipitated by the discovery of dark energy. Type Ia supernovae provided the initial evidence for accelerating cosmic expansion, and are among the dark energy probes planned for LSST. But supernova cosmology is currently limited by systematic uncertainties in flux calibration. I will provide a quick review of the status of the LSST project, and will describe how we intend to improve upon the calibration of the measurement of fluxes, shapes and positions of celestial sources.

Speaker: Christopher Stubbs, Harvard

3rd Floor Conference Room