Cosmology with the SKA

We argue that the Square Kilometer Array has the potential to make both redshift (HI) surveys and radio continuum surveys that will revolutionize cosmological studies, provided that it has sufficient instantaneous field-of-view that these surveys can cover a hemisphere (f(sky) similar to 0.5) in a timescale similar to1 yr. Adopting this assumption, we focus on two key experiments which will yield fundamental new measurements in cosmology, characterizing the properties of the mysterious dark energy which dominates the dynamics of today's Universe. Experiment I will map out similar to10(9)(f(sky)/0.5) HI galaxies to redshift z approximate to 1.5, providing the premier measurement of the clustering power spectrum of galaxies: accurately delineating the acoustic oscillations and the 'turnover'. Experiment II will quantify the cosmic shear distortion of similar to10(10)(f(sky)/ 0.5) radio continuum sources, determining a precise power spectrum of the dark matter, and its growth as a function of cosmic epoch. We contrast the performance of the SKA in precision cosmology with that of other facilities which will, probably or possibly, be available on a similar timescale. We conclude that data from the SKA will yield transformational science as the direct result of four key features: (i) the immense cosmic volumes probed, exceeding future optical redshift surveys by more than an order of magnitude; (ii) well-controlled systematic effects such as the narrow 'k-space window function' for Experiment I and the accurately known 'point-spread function' (synthesized beam) for Experiment II; (iii) the ability to measure with high precision large-scale modes in the clustering power spectra, for which nuisance effects such as non-linear structure growth, peculiar velocities and 'galaxy bias' are minimised; and (iv) different degeneracies between key parameters to those which are inherent in the Cosmic Microwave Background. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.