Learning real physics with fake universes - Sandy Yuan (SLAC)

Abstract: In this talk, I will describe a new simulation-based method in extracting physics from 3D galaxy distributions in the late Universe. This method can in principle exploit the full information content of the data and promises significant gains over traditional analytic methods in our ability to constrain standard cosmology (e.g. dark matter, dark energy, structural growth), the properties of neutrinos, and galaxy evolution. I will demonstrate its power through several initial applications of this simulation-based method on data and showcase forecasts on upcoming experiments like DESI and Rubin. However, there are key systematics that need to be elucidated before we can fully adopt this new method in science production. I will describe these in detail and illuminate the path forward.