Ashley Ross
(Portsmouth)
Rovust and Precise Physical Measurements using Galaxy Surveys:
Successes from BOSS and Lessons for the Future
Galaxy surveys allow answers to fundamental questions such as: What is the nature of Dark Energy? Can we detect deviations from General Relativity (GR)? What is the mass of the neutrino(s)? I will explain how using examples of measurements made using the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). I will describe the BOSS data, the methods we use to measure the clustering of BOSS galaxies, and how our most recent clustering measurements have allowed us to measure the distance to BOSS galaxies to within 1% precision. I will further describe some of the technical challenges and systematic concerns in our analysis, and the methods and measurements we have used to ameliorate these concerns. I will then discuss the early results from the Dark Energy Survey and the extended BOSS (eBOSS), both of which are in the early phases of data analysis/operation. I will conclude with a discussion of the results that will be afforded by future surveys, such as DESI.