Cosmic expansion history from SN Ia data via information field theory [CEA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1608.04007


We present a novel inference algorithm that reconstructs the cosmic expansion history as encoded in the Hubble parameter $H(z)$ from SNe Ia data. The novelty of the approach lies in the usage of information field theory, a statistical field theory that is very well suited for the construction of optimal signal recovery algorithms. The algorithm infers non-parametrically $s(a)=\ln(\rho(a)/\rho_{\mathrm{crit}0})$, the density evolution which determines $H(z)$, without assuming an analytical form of $\rho(a)$ but only its smoothness with the scale factor $a=(1+z)^{-1}$. The inference problem of recovering the signal $s(a)$ from the data is formulated in a fully Bayesian way. In detail, we rewrite the signal as the sum of a background cosmology and a perturbation. This allows to determine the maximum a posteriory estimate of the signal by an iterative Wiener filter method. Applying this method to the Union2.1 supernova compilation, we recover a cosmic expansion history that is fully compatible with the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model with parameter values consistent with the results of the Planck mission.

Read this paper on arXiv…

N. Porqueres, T. Ensslin, M. Greiner, et. al.
Tue, 16 Aug 16
41/57

Comments: N/A