Cosmology with ESO telescopes

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Cosmology with ESO telescopes

• Bruno Leibundgut

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Outline

• Past and current cosmology projects with ESO
  telescopes
• Future instrumentation capabilities
• (interferometry?)
• VLT 2nd generation instruments
• APEX
• Survey telescopes (VST, VISTA)
• ALMA
• ESO-ESA Working Group on Fundamental Cosmology
• The way to a European ELT

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Current VLT projects

• FIRES, GOODS, VVDS, K-20, GMASS, zCOSMOS
• detection of new classes of high-z galaxies
• massive, red galaxies
• old ellipticals at z2
• large number of star forming galaxies at zgt1.5
• SNLS, ESSENCE
• systematics of SNe Ia
• GRBs
• probing the end of reionisation?
• Variable fine-structure constant

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VLT 2nd Generation Instruments

• X-Shooter
• single source spectroscopy (UV through NIR)
• GRBs, SNe (physics)
• HAWK-I
• wide-field near-IR imager
• EROs, distant galaxies clusters, zgt7 galaxies
• KMOS
• multi-objects IR spectrograph
• mass assembly of galaxies, zgt7 galaxies
• MUSE
• optical multi-object, integral-field massive
  spectrograph
• deep Ly-a surveys, black holes

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Future possibilities

• New Facilities
• APEX
• Bonn-Berkeley Sunyaev-Zeldovich Survey
• Survey telescopes
• VST and VISTA
• KIDS, ATLAS
• ALMA
• use the negative K-corrections
• ELT
• see Sandro DOdoricos talk

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Public Surveys

• KIDS
• weak lensing ? mass distribution, galaxy power
  spectrum, dark energy very high-z QSOs
• 1400 sq. degree in five bands (ugriz)
• (plus JHK from either UKIDSS and/or VISTA)
• depth r24 (AB)
• ATLAS
• (Southern SDSS complement)
• baryon accoustic oscillations, dark energy
• 4500 sq. degree in five bands (ugriz)
• depth r22 (AB)

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ALMA

• Dust absorption not a problem
• Opens up observations of dust at high redshifts

• Negative K-corrections
• Observations right into the dark ages

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ESO-ESA working group on fundamental cosmology

• Composition
• John Peacock (Edinburgh, chair)
• Peter Schneider (Bonn, co-chair)
• John Ellis (CERN)
• Georg Efstathiou (Cambridge)
• Bruno Leibundgut (ESO)
• Simon Lilly (Zurich)
• Yannick Mellier (Paris)
• A critical review of global efforts in this area
• Assess what ESA ESO are doing now
• Independent opinion on possible new ESA/ESO
  projects or adding synergy

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Big questions

1. What is the right physics?
2. Did inflation happen?
3. What is the dark matter?
4. What is the dark energy?
5. What generated the baryon asymmetry?
6. Are there other relics to be found (e.g. cosmic
   strings)?
7. Are there extra dimensions?
8. Do fundamental constants vary?

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First ideas

• Some progress identified
• large imaging surveys (like KIDS)
• weak lensing and acoustic baryonic oscillations
  (based on photo-z, i.e. requires IR as well)
• massive spectroscopic surveys
• acoustic baryonic oscillations
• synergy with space
• imaging from space, photo-z from the ground
• (e.g. DUNE and darkCAM)
• Difficulties
• long lead times for instruments
• ESA Cosmic Vision setting out plans for 2015-2025
• ELT operational not before 2015

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Extremely Large Telescope

• OPTICON science working group
• External Review of the OWL Project (November
  05)
• Creation of five working groups at
  ESO(January/February 06)
• Science, telescope design, instruments, adaptive
  optics, site
• ELT science and engineering working
  group(March/April 06)

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ELT (cont.)

• Consolidation of various reports(end of April)
• Pre-selection of design by end of 2006
• Preliminary design end of 2007
• Science themes
• first objects, end of reionisation, cosmology
  with SNe, gravitational lensing, galaxy evolution

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Where is cosmology moving to?

• large surveys
• large teams
• exclusive use of telescope resources
• cf. CFHTLS, VST, VISTA
• Should large telescopes be dedicated to solve
  specific questions?