Cosmological Probes of Dark Energy

One of the great mysteries of modern cosmology is the origin and nature of dark
energy - a smooth component that contributes about 70% of the total energy
density in the universe and causes its accelerated expansion. Although
discovered less than a decade ago, dark energy domination has recently been
confirmed via several independent cosmological probes; nevertheless, there are
no good theoretical leads as to its physical provenance. In this talk I examine
critically various approaches to measure the macroscopic properties of dark
energy, and describe accurate yet general methods to model the expansion
history of the universe in the presence of dark energy.  I discuss the
importance of controlling the systematic errors in upcoming surveys, and show
examples from recent work applied to weak gravitational lensing.  Finally, I
talk about the SNAP space telescope and its prospects to help us understand the
nature of dark energy.