Modeling the Non-Linear Universe using Cosmological Simulations

Current and upcoming cosmological surveys are turning their eyes towards the late time universe in an attempt to answer fundamental questions about the structure of our world and the physical laws that govern it. Given the non-linear nature of the observables studied by these surveys, perturbative modeling approaches have limited faculty. Thus, non-perturbative simulation approaches are necessary in order to connect theory with observation and wring the most information out of the deluge of data that will be collected in the coming years. In this talk I will discuss a number of efforts I am involved with to interpret data using simulations within the Dark Energy Survey, focusing on their use in our Y1 analyses, and how we are extending this for upcoming analyses. I will also discuss more forward looking efforts to build emulators for galaxy survey observables that promise to unlock the information contained in highly non-linear observables, such as the halo mass function, redshift-space distortions and small scale projected clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing.

Speaker: Joe DeRose, Stanford