Erin Sheldon, PhD

Brookhaven National Lab

 

New Constraints on the Accelerating Universe from the Dark Energy Survey

 

The accelerated expansion of the universe remains a mystery more than twenty years after its discovery.  While various explanations have been proposed, from Einstein's cosmological constant to exotic forms of "Dark Energy", we need more data to distinguish the many possibilities.  I will describe how we use data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to measure the properties of Dark Energy using an effect known as Gravitational Lensing, the bending of the path of light as it passes massive bodies.  We combine lensing with a measurement of the spatial clustering of galaxy positions, also measured with DES data.  I will show new results from the third year of DES data taking that provide the most powerful lensing+clustering results to date. We find consistency with other data sets, and in combination we provide the best constraints yet on Dark Energy.  I will conclude with plans for the full six years of DES data and the next generation Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time.