CosmoSIS: a system for MC parameter estimation

[摘要] CosmoSIS is a modular system for cosmological parameter estimation, based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo and related techniques. It provides a series of samplers, which drive the exploration of the parameter space, and a series of modules, which calculate the likelihood of the observed data for a given physical model, determined by the location of a sample in the parameter space. While CosmoSIS ships with a set of modules that calculate quantities of interest to cosmologists, there is nothing about the framework itself, nor in the Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique, that is specific to cosmology. Thus CosmoSIS could be used for parameter estimation problems in other fields, including HEP. This paper describes the features of CosmoSIS and show an example of its use outside of cosmology. It also discusses how collaborative development strategies differ between two different communities: that of HEP physicists, accustomed to working in large collaborations, and that of cosmologists, who have traditionally not worked in large groups.

[发布机构] Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, Manchester; M13 9PL, United Kingdom^1;Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia; IL; 60510-0500, United States^2;Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago; IL; 60637, United States^3;Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago; IL; 60637, United States^4;Research Computing Center, University of Chicago, Chicago; IL; 60637, United States^5;Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago; IL; 60637, United States^6

[效力级别] 计算机科学 [学科分类] 计算机科学（综合）

[关键词] Collaborative development;Cosmological parameters;Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques;Markov Chain Monte-Carlo;Modular system;Parameter estimation problems;Parameter spaces;Quantities of interests