Modern Cosmology: Interactive Computer Simulations that use Recent Observational Surveys

摘要

We present a collection of new, open-source computational tools fornumerically modeling recent large-scale observational data sets using moderncosmology theory. Specifically, these tools will allow both students andresearchers to constrain the parameter values in competitive cosmologicalmodels, thereby discovering both the accelerated expansion of the universe andits composition (e.g., dark matter and dark energy). These programs haveseveral features to help the non-cosmologist build an understanding ofcosmological models and their relation to observational data: a built-incollection of several real observational data sets; sliders to vary the valuesof the parameters that define different cosmological models; real-time plottingof simulated data; and $\chi^2$ calculations of the goodness of fit for eachchoice of parameters (theory) and observational data (experiment). The currentlist of built-in observations includes several recent supernovae Type Iasurveys, baryon acoustic oscillations, the cosmic microwave backgroundradiation, gamma-ray bursts, and measurements of the Hubble parameter. In thisarticle, we discuss specific results for testing cosmological models usingthese observational data. These programs can be found athttp://www.compadre.org/osp/items/detail.cfm?ID=12406.