Mission to Probe the Universe's Darkest Secrets

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the expectations and potential outcomes of the Euclid mission, which aims to probe dark energy and the accelerated expansion of the universe. Participants explore the implications of the mission for cosmology, particularly regarding the Lambda-CDM model and the measurement of dark energy parameters.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express optimism that the Euclid mission will provide better constraints on the nature of accelerated expansion, with one suggesting an 80%-90% chance of confirming the Lambda-CDM model.
  • There is discussion about measuring the parameter w (the equation of state for dark energy) to a higher level of accuracy, with some noting that a revolutionary discovery would involve finding a non -1 value for w.
  • Participants mention the possibility of measuring the first time derivative of w, with some suggesting that the mission could provide significant constraints on dark energy parameters.
  • Others note that while dark matter effects on cosmology are largely understood, the mission's findings could still yield valuable information about galaxies.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that the Euclid mission has the potential to enhance understanding of dark energy, but there is no consensus on the specific outcomes or the significance of the measurements related to w and its derivatives.

Contextual Notes

Discussion includes various parameterizations of dark energy and acknowledges that the mission's constraints may depend on the chosen parameters. There is also uncertainty regarding the revolutionary nature of potential discoveries.

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skydivephil said:
http://phys.org/news/2012-06-mission-go-ahead-probe-universe-darkest.html

So what reasonable expectation can we have from this mission?
We should be able to have far, far better constraints on the nature of the accelerated expansion. This kind of satellite can really do a great job at nailing that down. The website there mentions dark matter, but that's basically a solved problem, at least in terms of its effects on cosmology.

I'd say that there's about an 80%-90% chance that Euclid will confirm the Lambda-CDM model of cosmology yet again. So a fairly small chance that it will detect something fundamentally new about the nature of the accelerated expansion. It will, however, bring in a treasure trove of information for people interested in studying galaxies, as it will be observing very large numbers of galaxies in the process of doing its mission to measure the accelerated expansion.
 
Are we talking about trying to measure w to a higher level of accuracy? If so the only revolutionary discovery will be if we got a non -1 answer right?
 
skydivephil said:
Are we talking about trying to measure w to a higher level of accuracy? If so the only revolutionary discovery will be if we got a non -1 answer right?
Well, there are other ways to parameterize dark energy, but yes, this is essentially correct.
 
skydivephil said:
Are we talking about trying to measure w to a higher level of accuracy? If so the only revolutionary discovery will be if we got a non -1 answer right?

I think they should also be able to measure/constrain the first time derivative of w as well?
 
nicksauce said:
I think they should also be able to measure/constrain the first time derivative of w as well?
Well, what's usually done now is to take w_0 (the value of w today) and w_a (the derivative of w with respect to the scale factor a). But there are other possibilities as well. Either way, Euclid should offer some pretty tremendous constraints on dark energy compared to current constraints, no matter what sort of parameters you use.
 

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