Dramatic improvements in the observational data and advances in the theoretical tools for describing the potentially complex relation between galaxies and mass now allow us to test theories of galaxy formation and cosmological models simultaneously. The theoretical side of this project focuses on the statistics of galaxy clustering and the underpinnings of the halo occupation distribution (HOD) framework. Additional theoretical work will use hydrodynamic and N-body simulations to investigate the dependence on dark matter dynamics and on galaxy type, redshift, and cosmology. Different clustering statistics carry complementary information, and since the combination of a cosmological model with a specified HOD determines all aspects of galaxy clustering, in principle a large redshift survey can reveal the cosmological and galaxy parameters, independently. The techniques developed will be applied to data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), yielding insights into galaxy formation physics and tightening constraints on cosmological parameters.
The most direct broader impacts will come through student training and graduate and undergraduate teaching, but the principal investigator is also involved in public outreach and significant community service. The research will also help to maximize the scientific return from the large investment in the SDSS, a major national resource.
