ABSTRACT:
I present galaxy clustering results from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey that reveal the signature of acoustic oscillations of the photon-baryon fluid in the first million years of the Universe. The
scale of this feature can be computed and hence the detection in the galaxy clustering serves as a standard ruler, giving a geometric distance to a redshift of 0.35. I will discuss the implications of this measurement for the composition of the universe, including dark energy and spatial curvature. I will close with a more general discussion of SDSS-III, a new collaborative project that will feature a large redshift survey
aimed at refining the acoustic oscillation distance scale to 1% as well as surveys for extrasolar planets and the structure of the Milky Way.
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Colloquium Tuesday, April 15, 2008 4:00 PM Physics Building, Room 204 Note special date. Note special time. Note special room. Special Colloquium |
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