Non-parametric Dark Energy Degeneracies

Understand

We study the degeneracies between dark energy dynamics, dark matter and curvature using a non-parametric and non-perturbative approach.

• This allows us to examine the knock-on bias induced in the reconstructed dark energy equation of state, w(z), when there is a bias in the cosmic curvature or dark matter content, without relying on any specific parameterisation of w.
• Even assuming perfect Hubble, distance and volume measurements, we show that for z > 1, the bias in w(z) is up to two orders of magnitude larger than the corresponding errors in Omega_k or Omega_m.
• This highlights the importance of obtaining unbiased estimators of all cosmic parameters in the hunt for dark energy dynamics.