Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Cosmology with Clusters of Galaxies? Yes We Can!

Gus Evrard

Departments of Physics and Astronomy
Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics
University of Michigan

This talk will review the status of using clusters of galaxies as tools to study the expansion history and gravitational development of structure in the universe. After a short historical introduction, I'll discuss theoretical and computational efforts to understand the cluster population from first principles. Although successful in many respects, these efforts are presently challenged to construct a framework for cluster statistics that will enable high-precision tests of dark matter and dark energy. In the spirit of the next American administration, I'll discuss what the field is doing to meet those challenges, particularly as we prepare for the next generation of multi-wavelength cluster sample from surveys such as South Pole Telescope, Dark Energy Survey, eRosita and others.