We describe the Dark Energy Survey (DES), a proposed optical-near infrared
survey of 5000 sq. deg of the South Galactic Cap to ~24th magnitude in SDSS
griz, that would use a new 3 sq. deg CCD camera to be mounted on the Blanco 4-m
telescope at Cerro Telolo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). The survey data
will allow us to measure the dark energy and dark matter densities and the dark
energy equation of state through four independent methods: galaxy clusters,
weak gravitational lensing tomography, galaxy angular clustering, and supernova
distances. These methods are doubly complementary: they constrain different
combinations of cosmological model parameters and are subject to different
systematic errors. By deriving the four sets of measurements from the same data
set with a common analysis framework, we will obtain important cross checks of
the systematic errors and thereby make a substantial and robust advance in the
precision of dark energy measurements.Comment: White Paper submitted to the Dark Energy Task Force, 42 page
