With the advent of large galaxy surveys (BOSS, DES and in the coming years Euclid, LSST, ...), astronomers have ventured into the era of statistical cosmology and big data. There is a dire need for theorists to build tools that can efficiently extract as much information as possible from this data to make the major investments in these surveys profitable. In particular, this means being able to probe the non-linear regime of structure formation and tackle systematic effects like redshift space distortions, galaxy biasing and non-linearities. It also requires us to tailor complementary sets of observables, which can help to disentangle the dynamical effects arising from the interplay of cosmological parameters and the initial conditions. In particular, these challenges can not be tackled via numerical simulations only as there is limited computing time. This is notably the case when covariance matrices need to be finely modelled, therefore requiring thousands of numerical realisations of the observable Universe, which is far beyond the reach of our existing facilities.
The focus of the workshop will be on recent progress in the non-linear modelling of the large-scale structure of the Universe. Various perturbative approaches will be discussed with a particular emphasis on:
- analytical techniques for gravitational lensing
- galaxy biasing
- redshift space distortions
- higher order statistics
- covariance matrices.
The workshop is designed to allow for large informal discussions and collaborative works in order to foster exchange between the participants, new ideas and new collaborations.
