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Abstract:

Upcoming spectroscopic surveys like PFS and DESI are beginning to release their first data, revealing an unprecedented three-dimensional view of the cosmic large-scale structure through the spatial distribution of (billions of) galaxies. Such surveys hold the potential to unveil key insights into the nature of dark matter, dark energy, and gravity—but fully realizing this potential requires extracting the maximal (reliable) information from galaxy maps. Traditional analyses compress such maps into summary statistics, while uncertainties in galaxy formation and evolution further complicate interpretation.
I will introduce the field-level inference program, which directly models the full galaxy maps on scales where astrophysical complexities can be robustly marginalized over. I will also discuss ongoing efforts to apply FLI to DESI and PFS data, including developments to account for observational systematics. If time allows, I will highlight how FLI can contribute to studies of galaxy formation and evolution through cross-correlation analyses.