The Mira-Titan Universe. II. Matter Power Spectrum Emulation

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal 2017-09, Vol.847 (1), p.50
• Main Authors: Lawrence, Earl, Heitmann, Katrin, Kwan, Juliana, Upadhye, Amol, Bingham, Derek, Habib, Salman, Higdon, David, Pope, Adrian, Finkel, Hal, Frontiere, Nicholas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astronomical models; Astrophysics; Computer simulation; Cosmological models; Cosmology; Dark energy; Emulators; large-scale structure of universe; Model accuracy; Neutrinos; Parameters; Perturbation theory; Red shift; Titan; Wavelengths
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa86a9

We introduce a new cosmic emulator for the matter power spectrum covering eight cosmological parameters. Targeted at optical surveys, the emulator provides accurate predictions out to a wavenumber Mpc−1 and redshift . In addition to covering the standard set of ΛCDM parameters, massive neutrinos and a dynamical dark energy of state are included. The emulator is built on a sample set of 36 cosmological models, carefully chosen to provide accurate predictions over the wide and large parameter space. For each model, we have performed a high-resolution simulation, augmented with 16 medium-resolution simulations and TimeRG perturbation theory results to provide accurate coverage over a wide k-range; the data set generated as part of this project is more than 1.2Pbytes. With the current set of simulated models, we achieve an accuracy of approximately 4%. Because the sampling approach used here has established convergence and error-control properties, follow-up results with more than a hundred cosmological models will soon achieve accuracy. We compare our approach with other prediction schemes that are based on halo model ideas and remapping approaches. The new emulator code is publicly available.