Selected Topics in Numerical Methods for Cosmology

Abstract

The large amount of cosmological data already available (and in the near future) makes necessary the development of efficient numerical codes. Many software products have been implemented to perform cosmological analyses considering one or few probes. The need of multi-task software is rapidly increasing, in order to combine numerous cosmological probes along with their specificity (e.g., astrophysical descriptions and systematic errors). In this work we mention some of these libraries, bringing out some challenges they will face in the few-percent error era (on the cosmological parameters). We review some concepts of the standard cosmological model, and examine some specific topics on their implementation, bringing, for example, the discussion on how some quantities are numerically defined in different codes. We also consider implementation differences between public codes, mentioning their advantages/disadvantages.

23 pages, 3 figures. Contribution to the 3rd José Plínio Baptista School on Cosmology held in 2016 in Pedra Azul, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Submitted to Universe

References in corpus (8)

• Improved cosmological constraints from a joint analysis of the SDSS-II and SNLS supernova samples
• The Cosmic Linear Anisotropy Solving System (CLASS) I: Overview
• Core Cosmology Library: Precision Cosmological Predictions for LSST
• Observational constraints on quantum decoherence during inflation
• Quantum Cosmological Perturbations of Multiple Fluids
• Biases on cosmological parameter estimators from galaxy cluster number counts
• Comments on "Growth of Covariant Perturbations in the Contracting Phase of a Bouncing Universe" by A. Kumar
• Unitary evolution, canonical variables and vacuum choice for general quadratic Hamiltonians in spatially homogeneous and isotropic space-times