Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: $$w$$CDM cosmology from simulation-based inference with persistent homology on the sphere

Journal Article · Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 UTC 2025 · Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf2152 · OSTI ID:2570345

Prat, J.  ^[1]; Gatti, M. ^[2]; Doux, C. ^[3]; Pranav, P. ^[4]; Chang, C. ^[5]; Jeffrey, N. ^[6]; Whiteway, L. ^[6]; Anbajagane, D. ^[2]; Sugiyama, S. ^[7]; Thomsen, A. ^[8]; Alarcon, A. ^[9]; Amon, A. ^[10]; Bechtol, K. ^[11]; Bernstein, G. M. ^[7]; Campos, A. ^[12]; Chen, R. ^[13]; Choi, A. ^[14]; Davis, C. ^[15]; DeRose, J. ^[16]; Dodelson, S.  ^[17] ; Eckert, K. ^[7]; Elvin-Poole, J. ^[18]; Everett, S. ^[19]; Ferté, A. ^[20]; Gruen, D. ^[21]; Huff, E. M. ^[22]; Harrison, I. ^[23]; Herner, K. ^[24]; Jarvis, M. ^[7]; Kuropatkin, N. ^[24]; Leget, P.-F. ^[15]; MacCrann, N. ^[25]; McCullough, J. ^[26]; Myles, J. ^[10]; Navarro-Alsina, A. ^[27]; Pandey, S. ^[7]; Raveri, M. ^[28]; Rollins, R. P. ^[29]; Roodman, A. ^[30]; Sánchez, C. ^[7]; Secco, L. F. ^[2]; Sheldon, E. ^[31]; Shin, T. ^[32]; Troxel, M. A. ^[13]; Tutusaus, I. ^[33]; Varga, T. N. ^[34]; Yanny, B. ^[24]; Yin, B.  ^[12]; Zhang, Y. ^[35]; Zuntz, J. ^[36]; Abbott, T. M.C. ^[35]; Aguena, M. ^[37]; Allam, S. ^[24]; Andrade-Oliveira, F. ^[38]; Blazek, J. ^[39]; Bocquet, S. ^[21]; Brooks, D. ^[6]; Carretero, J. ^[40]; Carnero Rosell, A. ^[41]; Cawthon, R. ^[42]; De Vicente, J. ^[43]; Desai, S. ^[44]; da Silva Pereira, M. E. ^[45]; Diehl, H. T. ^[24]; Flaugher, B. ^[24]; Frieman, J. ^[17]; García-Bellido, J.  ^[46]; Gruendl, R. A. ^[47]; Gutierrez, G. ^[24]; Hinton, S. R. ^[48]; Hollowood, D. L. ^[49]; Honscheid, K. ^[50]; James, D. J. ^[51]; Kuehn, K. ^[52]; da Costa, L. N. ^[53]; Lahav, O. ^[6]; Lee, S. ^[22]; Marshall, J. L. ^[54]; Mena-Fernández, J. ^[55]; Miquel, R. ^[56]; Mohr, J. J. ^[21]; Ogando, R. L.C. ^[57]; Plazas Malagón, A. A. ^[58]; Porredon, A. ^[59]; Samuroff, S. ^[60]; Sanchez, E. ^[43]; Santiago, B. ^[61]; Sevilla-Noarbe, I. ^[43]; Smith, M. ^[62]; Suchyta, E. ^[63]; Swanson, M. E.C. ^[64]; Thomas, D. ^[65]; To, C. ^[66]; Vikram, V. ^[67]; Walker, A. R. ^[35]; Weaverdyck, N. ^[68]; Weller, J. ^[69]

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1. Nordita; Royal Inst. Tech., Sodertalje; Stockholm U.; Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.
2. Chicago U., KICP
3. Pennsylvania U., Dept. Math.; LPSC, Grenoble
4. Galgotias U., Greater Noida; Ashoka U.
5. Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.; Chicago U., KICP
6. University Coll. London
7. Pennsylvania U., Dept. Math.
8. Zurich, ETH
9. Barcelona, IEEC
10. Princeton U., Astrophys. Sci. Dept.
11. Wisconsin U., Madison
12. Carnegie Mellon U.
13. Duke U.
14. NASA, Goddard
15. KIPAC, Menlo Park
16. LBL, Berkeley
17. Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.; Fermilab; Chicago U., KICP
18. Waterloo U.
19. Caltech
20. SLAC
21. Munich U. Observ.
22. Caltech, JPL
23. Cardiff U.
24. Fermilab
25. Cambridge U., DAMTP
26. Princeton U., Astrophys. Sci. Dept.; KIPAC, Menlo Park; SLAC; Munich U. Observ.
27. Campinas State U.
28. INFN, Genoa
29. Jodrell Bank
30. SLAC; KIPAC, Menlo Park
31. Brookhaven
32. Stony Brook U.
33. IRAP, Toulouse
34. ORIGINS, Garching; Garching, Max Planck Inst., MPE; Munich U.
35. Cerro-Tololo InterAmerican Obs.
36. Edinburgh U., Inst. Astron.
37. Trieste Observ.; LIneA, Rio de Janeiro
38. Zurich U.
39. Northeastern U.
40. Barcelona, IFAE
41. IAC, La Laguna; LIneA, Rio de Janeiro; Laguna U., Tenerife
42. William-Mary Coll.
43. Madrid, CIEMAT
44. Indian Inst. Tech., Hyderabad
45. Hamburg Observ.
46. Madrid, IFT
47. Illinois U., Urbana (main); Illinois U., Urbana, Astron. Dept.
48. Queensland U.
49. UC, Santa Cruz
50. Ohio State U., CCAPP; Ohio State U.
51. Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.
52. Australian Astron. Observ.; Lowell Observ.
53. LIneA, Rio de Janeiro
54. Texas A-M
55. LPSC, Grenoble
56. ICREA, Barcelona; Barcelona, Autonoma U.; Barcelona, IFAE
57. Rio de Janeiro Observ.; Campinas State U.
58. KIPAC, Menlo Park; SLAC
59. Madrid, CIEMAT; Ruhr U., Bochum
60. Northeastern U.; Barcelona, IFAE
61. Rio Grande do Sul U.; LIneA, Rio de Janeiro
62. Lancaster U.
63. ORNL, Oak Ridge (main)
64. Illinois U., Urbana (main)
65. Portsmouth U., ICG
66. Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.
67. Unlisted
68. UC, Berkeley, Astron. Dept.; LBL, Berkeley
69. Garching, Max Planck Inst., MPE; Munich U.

We present cosmological constraints from Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) weak lensing data using persistent homology, a topological data analysis technique that tracks how features like clusters and voids evolve across density thresholds. For the first time, we apply spherical persistent homology to galaxy survey data through the algorithm TopoS2, which is optimized for curved-sky analyses and HEALPix compatibility. Employing a simulation-based inference framework with the Gower Street simulation suite, specifically designed to mimic DES Y3 data properties, we extract topological summary statistics from convergence maps across multiple smoothing scales and redshift bins. After neural network compression of these statistics, we estimate the likelihood function and validate our analysis against baryonic feedback effects, finding minimal biases (under $0.3σ$) in the $$Ω_\mathrm{m}-S_8$$ plane. Assuming the $$w$$CDM model, our combined Betti numbers and second moments analysis yields $$S_8 = 0.821 \pm 0.018$$ and $$Ω_\mathrm{m} = 0.304\pm0.037$$-constraints 70% tighter than those from cosmic shear two-point statistics in the same parameter plane. Our results demonstrate that topological methods provide a powerful and robust framework for extracting cosmological information, with our spherical methodology readily applicable to upcoming Stage IV wide-field galaxy surveys.

• Research Organization: Ashoka U.; Australian Astron. Observ.; Barcelona, Autonoma U.; Barcelona, IEEC; Barcelona, IFAE; Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Caltech; Caltech, JPL; Cambridge U., DAMTP; Campinas State U.; Cardiff U.; Carnegie Mellon U.; Cerro-Tololo InterAmerican Obs.; Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.; Chicago U., KICP; Duke U.; Edinburgh U., Inst. Astron.; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Galgotias U., Greater Noida; Garching, Max Planck Inst., MPE; Hamburg Observ.; Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.; IAC, La Laguna; ICREA, Barcelona; INFN, Genoa; IRAP, Toulouse; Illinois U., Urbana (main); Illinois U., Urbana, Astron. Dept.; Indian Inst. Tech., Hyderabad; Jodrell Bank; LIneA, Rio de Janeiro; LPSC, Grenoble; Laguna U., Tenerife; Lancaster U.; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lowell Observ.; Madrid, CIEMAT; Madrid, IFT; Munich U.; Munich U. Observ.; NASA, Goddard; Nordita; Northeastern U.; ORIGINS, Garching; Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Ohio State U.; Ohio State U., CCAPP; Pennsylvania U., Dept. Math.; Portsmouth U., ICG; Princeton U., Astrophys. Sci. Dept.; Queensland U.; Rio Grande do Sul U.; Rio de Janeiro Observ.; Royal Inst. Tech., Sodertalje; Ruhr U., Bochum; SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); Stockholm U.; Stony Brook U.; Texas A-M; Trieste Observ.; UC, Berkeley, Astron. Dept.; UC, Santa Cruz; University Coll. London; Unlisted; Waterloo U.; William-Mary Coll.; Wisconsin U., Madison; Zurich U.; Zurich, ETH
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy
• Grant/Contract Number: 89243024CSC000002
• OSTI ID: 2570345
• Report Number(s): DES-2025-0898; FERMILAB-PUB-25-0327-PPD; oai:inspirehep.net:2935339; arXiv:2506.13439
• Journal Information: Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc., Journal Name: Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 545
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English