We use 26 × 10 6 galaxies from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 shape catalogs over 1321 deg 2 of the sky to produce the most significant measurement of cosmic shear in a galaxy survey to date. We constrain cosmological parameters in both the flat ΛCDM and the wCDM models, while also varying the neutrino mass density. These results are shown to be robust using two independent shape catalogs, two independent photo-z calibration methods, and two independent analysis pipelines in a blind analysis. We find a 3.5% fractional uncertainty on σ 8 ðΩ m =0.3Þ 0.5 ¼ 0.782 −0.39 . We find results that are consistent with previous cosmic shear constraints in σ 8 -Ω m , and we see no evidence for disagreement of our weak lensing data with data from the cosmic microwave background. Finally, we find no evidence preferring a wCDM model allowing w ≠ −1. We expect further significant improvements with subsequent years of DES data, which will more than triple the sky coverage of our shape catalogs and double the effective integrated exposure time per galaxy.

We present photometric redshift estimates for galaxies used in the weak lensing analysis of the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification (DES SV) data. Four model-or machine learning-based photometric redshift methods -annz2, bpz calibrated against BCC-Ufig simulations, skynet, and tpz -are analysed. For training, calibration, and testing of these methods, we construct a catalogue of spectroscopically confirmed galaxies matched against DES SV data. The performance of the methods is evaluated against the matched spectroscopic catalogue, focusing on metrics relevant for weak lensing analyses, with additional validation against COSMOS photo-zs. From the galaxies in the DES SV shear catalogue, which have mean redshift 0.72 ± 0.01 over the range 0.3 < z < 1.3, we construct three tomographic bins with means of z = {0.45, 0.67, 1.00}. These bins each have systematic uncertainties δz 0.05 in the mean of the fiducial skynet photo-z n(z). We propagate the errors in the redshift distributions through to their impact on cosmological parameters estimated with cosmic shear, and find that they cause shifts in the value of σ 8 of approx. 3%. This shift is within the one sigma statistical errors on σ 8 for the DES SV shear catalog. We further study the potential impact of systematic differences on the critical surface density, Σ crit , finding levels of bias safely less than the statistical power of DES SV data. We recommend a final Gaussian prior for the photo-z bias in the mean of n(z) of width 0.05 for each of the three tomographic bins, and show that this is a sufficient bias model for the corresponding cosmology analysis.

PandaX is a large upgradable liquid-xenon detector system that can be used for both direct dark-matter detection and 136 Xe double-beta decay search. It is located in the Jinping Deep-Underground Laboratory in Sichuan, China. The detector operates in dual-phase mode, allowing detection of both prompt scintillation, and ionization charge through proportional scintillation. The central time projection chamber will be staged, with the first stage accommodating a target mass of about 120 kg. In stage II, the target mass will be increased to about 0.5 ton. In the final stage, the detector can be upgraded to a multi-ton target mass. In this paper a detailed description of the stage-I detector design and performance results established during the commissioning phase is presented.

We describe the creation, content, and validation of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) internal year-one cosmology data set, Y1A1 GOLD, in support of upcoming cosmological analyses. The Y1A1 GOLD data set is assembled from multiple epochs of DES imaging and consists of calibrated photometric zero-points, object catalogs, and ancillary data products-e.g., maps of survey depth and observing conditions, star-galaxy classification, and photometric redshift estimates-that are necessary for accurate cosmological analyses. The Y1A1 GOLD widearea object catalog consists of~137 million objects detected in co-added images covering~1800 deg 2 in the DES grizY filters. The 10σ limiting magnitude for galaxies is = g 23.4, = r 23.2, = i 22.5, = z 21.8, and = Y 20.1. Photometric calibration of Y1A1 GOLD was performed by combining nightly zero-point solutions with stellar locus regression, and the absolute calibration accuracy is better than 2% over the survey area. DES Y1A1 GOLD is the largest photometric data set at the achieved depth to date, enabling precise measurements of cosmic acceleration at z1.

We present a new measurement of the cosmic-ray positron fraction at energies between 5 and 15 GeV with the balloon-borne HEAT-pbar instrument in the spring of 2000. The data presented here are compatible with our previous measurements, obtained with a different instrument. The combined data from the three HEAT flights indicate a small positron flux of nonstandard origin above 5 GeV. We compare the new measurement with earlier data obtained with the HEAT-e(+/-) instrument, during the opposite epoch of the solar cycle, and conclude that our measurements do not support predictions of charge sign dependent solar modulation of the positron abundance at 5 GeV.

See paper for full list of authors - 67 pages, 20 figures; submitted to Physics ReportsInternational audienceRecent years have seen increased theoretical and experimental effort towards the first-ever detection of cosmic-ray antideuterons, in particular as an indirect signature of dark matter annihilation or decay. In contrast to indirect dark matter searches using positrons, antiprotons, or gamma-rays, which suffer from relatively high and uncertain astrophysical backgrounds, searches with antideuterons benefit from very suppressed conventional backgrounds, offering a potential breakthrough in unexplored phase space for dark matter. This article is based on the first dedicated cosmic-ray antideuteron workshop, which was held at UCLA in June 2014. It reviews broad classes of dark matter candidates that result in detectable cosmic-ray antideuteron fluxes, as well as the status and prospects of current experimental searches. The coalescence model of antideuteron production and the influence of antideuteron measurements at particle colliders are discussed. This is followed by a review of the modeling of antideuteron propagation through the magnetic fields, plasma currents, and molecular material of our Galaxy, the solar system, the Earth's geomagnetic field, and the atmosphere. Finally, the three ongoing or planned experiments that are sensitive to cosmic-ray antideuterons, BESS, AMS-02, and GAPS, are detailed. As cosmic-ray antideuteron detection is a rare event search, multiple experiments with orthogonal techniques and backgrounds are essential. Many theoretical and experimental groups have contributed to these studies over the last decade, this review aims to provide the first coherent discussion of the relevant dark matter theories that antideuterons probe, the challenges to predictions and interpretations of antideuteron signals, and the experimental efforts toward cosmic antideuteron detection

Many scientific goals for the Dark Energy Survey (DES) require calibration of optical/NIR broadband b = grizY photometry that is stable in time and uniform over the celestial sky to one percent or better. It is also necessary to limit to similar accuracy systematic uncertainty in the calibrated broadband magnitudes due to uncertainty in the spectrum of the source. Here we present a "Forward Global Calibration Method (FGCM)" for photometric calibration of the DES, and we present results of its application to the first three years of the survey (Y3A1). The FGCM combines data taken with auxiliary instrumentation at the observatory with data from the broad-band survey imaging itself and models of the instrument and atmosphere to estimate the spatial-and time-dependence of the passbands of individual DES survey exposures. "Standard" passbands are chosen that are typical of the passbands encountered during the survey. The passband of any individual observation is combined with an estimate of the source spectral shape to yield a magnitude m std b in the standard system. This "chromatic correction" to the standard system is necessary to achieve sub-percent calibrations. The FGCM achieves reproducible and stable photometric calibration of standard magnitudes m std b of stellar sources over the multi-year Y3A1 data sample with residual random calibration errors of σ = 5 − 6 mmag per exposure. The accuracy of the calibration is uniform across the 5000 deg 2 DES footprint to within σ = 7 mmag. The systematic uncertainties of magnitudes in the standard system due to the spectra of sources are less than 5 mmag for main sequence stars with 0.5 < g − i < 3.0.

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