HEP - ASTRO SEMINAR | redMaPPer and redMaGiC: Enabling Precision Cosmology with Photometric Surveys

The currently ongoing Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the future Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) are poised to revolutionize our understanding of cosmology, leading to next level of precision in cosmological studies of dark matter, dark energy, and neutrino physics.  To deliver on this promise, however, we must first develop the tools that can enable us to exploit this photometric data sets.  I will review ongoing efforts within the Dark Energy Survey in constructing the redMaPPer cluster catalog and the redMaGiC galaxy catalogs, catalogs specifically designed to enable cluster cosmology, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, and Super Novae studies with the DES and LSST.