Statistical Challenges in 21st Century Cosmology (IAU S306)

Addresses the intricate mathematical methods needed to extract scientific insights from large and complicated datasets.

Alan Heavens (Edited by), Jean-Luc Starck (Edited by), Alberto Krone-Martins (Edited by)

9781107078567, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 July 2015

433 pages, 200 b/w illus. 20 tables
25.4 x 18.1 x 2 cm, 0.84 kg

The advent of advanced astronomical instruments and huge surveys means that the twenty-first century is witnessing a rapid growth in astrostatistical science. Interpreting the cosmic microwave background, weak and strong gravitational lensing, galaxy clustering and other signatures of the early Universe all require advanced statistical techniques. Led by members of the IAU's newly formed Working Group in Astrostatistics and Astroinformatics, IAU Symposium 306 emphasises the intricate mathematical methods needed to extract scientific insights from large and complicated datasets. It contains contributions on Bayesian methods, weak lensing cosmology, CMB data analysis, cross-correlating datasets, large-scale structure, data mining and machine learning, ongoing surveys and the future Euclid mission. The approaches presented here provide a solid foundation to advance new research methods in cosmology, making it an essential text for the large community of astronomers and statisticians who will analyse and interpret the vast and growing amount of observational data.

Preface
The organizing committee
Participants
1. Bayes
2. Statistics
3. Sparsity
4. Weak lensing
5. CMB
6. Radio
7. Joint probes
8. LSS
9. Data mining
10. Survey
11. Future projects
12. Other
13. Conclusions
Author index.

Subject Areas: Astrophysics [PHVB], Cosmology & the universe [PGK], Probability & statistics [PBT], Mathematics & science [P], Data analysis: general [GPH]