Fisher Matrix Forecasts Research Articles

Power spectrum multipoles and clustering wedges during the Epoch of Reionization

Abstract We study the viability of using power spectrum clustering wedges as summary statistics of 21 cm surveys during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). For observations in a wide redshift range z ∼ 7 − 9 corresponding to a line-of-sight scale of ∼500 Mpc, the power spectrum is subject to anisotropic effects due to the evolution along the light-of-sight. Information on the physics of reionization can be extracted from the anisotropy using the power spectrum multipoles. Signals of the power spectrum monopole are highly correlated at scales smaller than the typical ionization bubble, which can be disentangled by including higher-order multipoles. By simulating observations of the low frequency part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Observatory, we find that the sampling of the cylindrical wavenumber k-space is highly non-uniform due to the baseline distribution, i.e. the distribution of antenna pairs sampling different transverse k⊥ scales. Measurements in clustering wedges partition the cylindrical k-space into different radial k∥ scales, and can be used for isolating parts of k-space with relatively uniform sampling, allowing for more precise parameter inference. Using Fisher Matrix forecasts, we find that the reionization model can be inferred with per-cent level precision with ∼120 hrs of integration time using SKA-Low. Compared to model inference using only the power spectrum monopole above the foreground wedge, model inference using multipole power spectra in clustering wedges yields a factor of ∼3 improvement on the marginalised 1D parameter constraints.

Cosmology with shear ratios: a joint study of weak lensing and spectroscopic redshift datasets

The ratio of the average tangential shear signal of different weak lensing source populations around the same lens galaxies, also known as a shear ratio, provides an important test of lensing systematics and a potential source of cosmological information. In this paper we measure shear ratios of three current weak lensing surveys –KiDS, DES, and HSC– using overlapping data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. We apply a Bayesian method to reduce bias in shear ratio measurement, and assess the degree to which shear ratio information improves the determination of important astrophysical parameters describing the source redshift distributions and intrinsic galaxy alignments, as well as cosmological parameters, in comparison with cosmic shear and full 3x2-pt correlations (cosmic shear, galaxy-galaxy lensing, and galaxy clustering). We consider both Fisher matrix forecasts, as well as full likelihood analyses of the data. We find that the addition of shear ratio information to cosmic shear allows the mean redshifts of the source samples and intrinsic alignment parameters to be determined significantly more accurately. Although the additional constraining power enabled by the shear ratio is less than that obtained by introducing an accurate prior in the mean source redshift using photometric redshift calibration, the shear ratio allows for a useful cross-check. The inclusion of shear ratio data consistently benefits the determination of cosmological parameters such as S_8, for which we obtain improvements up to 34%. However these improvements are less significant when shear ratio is combined with the full 3x2-pt correlations. We conclude that shear ratio tests will remain a useful source of cosmological information and cross-checks for lensing systematics, whose application will be further enhanced by upcoming datasets such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument.

Euclid: Validation of the MontePython forecasting tools

Context. The Euclid mission of the European Space Agency will perform a survey of weak lensing cosmic shear and galaxy clustering in order to constrain cosmological models and fundamental physics. Aims. We expand and adjust the mock Euclid likelihoods of the MontePython software in order to match the exact recipes used in previous Euclid Fisher matrix forecasts for several probes: weak lensing cosmic shear, photometric galaxy clustering, the cross-correlation between the latter observables, and spectroscopic galaxy clustering. We also establish which precision settings are required when running the Einstein–Boltzmann solvers CLASS and CAMB in the context of Euclid. Methods. For the minimal cosmological model, extended to include dynamical dark energy, we perform Fisher matrix forecasts based directly on a numerical evaluation of second derivatives of the likelihood with respect to model parameters. We compare our results with those of previously validated Fisher codes using an independent method based on first derivatives of the Euclid observables. Results. We show that such MontePython forecasts agree very well with previous Fisher forecasts published by the Euclid Collab oration, and also, with new forecasts produced by the CosmicFish code, now interfaced directly with the two Einstein–Boltzmann solvers CAMB and CLASS. Moreover, to establish the validity of the Gaussian approximation, we show that the Fisher matrix marginal error contours coincide with the credible regions obtained when running Monte Carlo Markov chains with MontePython while using the exact same mock likelihoods. Conclusions. The new Euclid forecast pipelines presented here are ready for use with additional cosmological parameters, in order to explore extended cosmological models.

21cm signal sensitivity to dark matter decay

The redshifted 21cm signal from the Cosmic Dawn is expected to provide unprecedented insights into early Universe astrophysics and cosmology. Here we explore how dark matter can heat the intergalactic medium before the first galaxies, leaving a distinctive imprint in the 21cm power spectrum. We provide the first dedicated Fisher matrix forecasts on the sensitivity of the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) telescope to dark matter decays. We show that with 1000 hours of observation, HERA has the potential to improve current cosmological constraints on the dark matter decay lifetime by up to three orders of magnitude. Even in extreme scenarios with strong X-ray emission from early-forming, metal-free galaxies, the bounds on the decay lifetime would be improved by up to two orders of magnitude. Overall, HERA shall improve on existing limits for dark matter masses below 2 GeV/c 2 for decays into e+e- and below few MeV/c 2 for decays into photons.

Beyond 3×2-point cosmology: the integrated shear and galaxy 3-point correlation functions

We present the integrated 3-point correlation functions (3PCF) involving both the cosmic shear and the galaxy density fields. These are a set of higher-order statistics that describe the modulation of local 2-point correlation functions (2PCF) by large-scale features in the fields, and which are easy to measure from galaxy imaging surveys. Based on previous works on the shear-only integrated 3PCF, we develop the theoretical framework for modelling 5 new statistics involving the galaxy field and its cross-correlations with cosmic shear. Using realistic galaxy and cosmic shear mocks from simulations, we determine the regime of validity of our models based on leading-order standard perturbation theory with an MCMC analysis that recovers unbiased constraints of the amplitude of fluctuations parameter A s and the linear and quadratic galaxy bias parameters b 1 and b 2. Using Fisher matrix forecasts for a DES-Y3-like survey, relative to baseline analyses with conventional 3×2PCFs, we find that the addition of the shear-only integrated 3PCF can improve cosmological parameter constraints by 20–40%. The subsequent addition of the new statistics introduced in this paper can lead to further improvements of 10–20%, even when utilizing only conservatively large scales where the tree-level models are valid. Our results motivate future work on the galaxy and shear integrated 3PCFs, which offer a practical way to extend standard analyses based on 3×2PCFs to systematically probe the non-Gaussian information content of cosmic density fields.

Fisher matrix forecasts on the astrophysics of galaxies during the epoch of reionization from the 21-cm power spectra

ABSTRACT The hyperfine 21-cm transition of neutral hydrogen from the early Universe (z > 5) is a sensitive probe of the formation and evolution of the first luminous sources. Using the Fisher matrix formalism we explore the complex and degenerate high-dimensional parameter space associated with the high-z sources of this era and forecast quantitative constraints from a future 21-cm power spectrum (21-cm PS) detection. This is achieved using $\rm {\small ERAXES}$, a coupled semi-analytic galaxy formation model and reionization simulation, applied to an N-body halo merger tree with a statistically complete population of all atomically cooled galaxies out to z ∼ 20. Our mock observation assumes a 21-cm detection spanning z ∈ [5, 24] from a 1000 h mock observation with the forthcoming Square Kilometre Array, and is calibrated with respect to ultraviolet luminosity functions (UV LFs) at z ∈ [5, 10], the optical depth of CMB photons to Thompson scattering from Planck, and various constraints on the IGM neutral fraction at z > 5. In this work, we focus on the X-ray luminosity, ionizing UV photon escape fraction, star formation, and supernova feedback of the first galaxies. We demonstrate that it is possible to recover five of the eight parameters describing these properties with better than 50 per cent precision using just the 21-cm PS. By combining with UV LFs, we are able to improve our forecast, with five of the eight parameters constrained to better than 10 per cent (and all below 50 per cent).

Fisher matrix for the one-loop galaxy power spectrum: measuring expansion and growth rates without assuming a cosmological model

We introduce a methodology to extend the Fisher matrix forecasts to mildly non-linear scales without the need of selecting a cosmological model. We make use of standard non-linear perturbation theory for biased tracers complemented by counterterms, and assume that the cosmological distances can be measured accurately with standard candles. Instead of choosing a specific model, we parametrize the linear power spectrum and the growth rate in several k and z bins. We show that one can then obtain model-independent constraints of the expansion rate E(z) = E(z)/H 0 and the growth rate f(k,z), besides the bias functions. We apply the technique to both Euclid and DESI public specifications in the range 0.6 ≤ z ≤ 1.8 and show that the gain in precision when going from k max = 0.1 to 0.2 h/Mpc is around two- to threefold, while it reaches four- to ninefold when extending to k max = 0.3 h/Mpc. In absolute terms, with k max = 0.2 h/Mpc, one can reach high precision on E(z) at each z-shell: 8–10% for DESI with Δz = 0.1, 5–6% for Euclid with Δz = 0.2–0.3. This improves to 1–2% if the growth rate f is taken to be k-independent. The growth rate itself has in general much weaker constraints, unless assumed to be k-independent, in which case the gain is similar to the one for E(z) and uncertainties around 5–15% can be reached at each z-bin. We also discuss how neglecting the non-linear corrections can have a large effect on the constraints even for k max = 0.1 h/Mpc, unless one has independent strong prior information on the non-linear parameters.

The covariance of squeezed bispectrum configurations

We measure the halo bispectrum covariance in a large set of N-body simulations and compare it with theoretical expectations. We find a large correlation among (even mildly) squeezed halo bispectrum configurations. A similarly large correlation can be found between squeezed triangles and the long-wavelength halo power spectrum. This shows that the diagonal Gaussian contribution fails to describe, even approximately, the full covariance in these cases. We compare our numerical estimate with a model that includes, in addition to the Gaussian one, only the non-Gaussian terms that are large for squeezed configurations. We find that accounting for these large terms in the modeling greatly improves the agreement of the full covariance with simulations. We apply these results to a simple Fisher matrix forecast, and find that constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity are degraded by a factor of ∼ 2 when a non-Gaussian covariance is assumed instead of the diagonal, Gaussian approximation.

Response approach to the integrated shear 3-point correlation function: the impact of baryonic effects on small scales

ABSTRACT The integrated shear 3-point correlation function ζ± is a higher-order statistic of the cosmic shear field that describes the modulation of the 2-point correlation function ξ± by long-wavelength features in the field. Here, we introduce a new theoretical model to calculate ζ± that is accurate on small angular scales, and that allows to take baryonic feedback effects into account. Our model builds on the realization that the small-scale ζ± is dominated by the non-linear matter bispectrum in the squeezed limit, which can be evaluated accurately using the non-linear matter power spectrum and its first-order response functions to density and tidal field perturbations. We demonstrate the accuracy of our model by showing that it reproduces the small-scale ζ± measured in simulated cosmic shear maps. The impact of baryonic feedback enters effectively only through the corresponding impact on the non-linear matter power spectrum, thereby permitting to account for these astrophysical effects on ζ± similarly to how they are currently accounted for on ξ±. Using a simple idealized Fisher matrix forecast for a DES-like survey we find that, compared to ξ±, a combined $\xi _{\pm }\ \&\ \zeta _{\pm }$ analysis can lead to improvements of order $20\!-\!40{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ on the constraints of cosmological parameters such as σ8 or the dark energy equation of state parameter w0. We find similar levels of improvement on the constraints of the baryonic feedback parameters, which strengthens the prospects for cosmic shear data to obtain tight constraints not only on cosmology but also on astrophysical feedback models. These encouraging results motivate future works on the integrated shear 3-point correlation function towards applications to real survey data.

Euclid preparation

Aims. We investigate the importance of lensing magnification for estimates of galaxy clustering and its cross-correlation with shear for the photometric sample of Euclid. Using updated specifications, we study the impact of lensing magnification on the constraints and the shift in the estimation of the best fitting cosmological parameters that we expect if this effect is neglected. Methods. We follow the prescriptions of the official Euclid Fisher matrix forecast for the photometric galaxy clustering analysis and the combination of photometric clustering and cosmic shear. The slope of the luminosity function (local count slope), which regulates the amplitude of the lensing magnification, and the galaxy bias have been estimated from the Euclid Flagship simulation. Results. We find that magnification significantly affects both the best-fit estimation of cosmological parameters and the constraints in the galaxy clustering analysis of the photometric sample. In particular, including magnification in the analysis reduces the 1σ errors on Ωm, 0, w0, wa at the level of 20–35%, depending on how well we will be able to independently measure the local count slope. In addition, we find that neglecting magnification in the clustering analysis leads to shifts of up to 1.6σ in the best-fit parameters. In the joint analysis of galaxy clustering, cosmic shear, and galaxy–galaxy lensing, magnification does not improve precision, but it leads to an up to 6σ bias if neglected. Therefore, for all models considered in this work, magnification has to be included in the analysis of galaxy clustering and its cross-correlation with the shear signal (3 × 2pt analysis) for an accurate parameter estimation.

Using peculiar velocity surveys to constrain neutrino masses

ABSTRACT The presence of massive neutrinos in the early Universe is expected to have influenced the observed distribution of galaxies and their observed motions. In this work, we explore whether measurements of galaxy peculiar velocities could allow us to improve upon neutrino mass constraints from galaxy redshift surveys alone. Using Fisher matrix forecasts, we show that the galaxy peculiar motions do contain information on the sum of the masses of neutrinos ∑mν, and that this information can be used to improve upon constraints that may be obtained from low-redshift galaxy surveys (z < 0.5) combined with Planck measurements of the cosmic microwave background. Compared to the full constraining power offered by Planck and higher redshift DESI data, we find that the benefit of including peculiar velocities only marginally improves neutrino mass constraints. However, when one does not include information from Planck, our results show that the inclusion of peculiar velocity measurements can substantially improve upon the constraints from redshift surveys alone, and that in some cases the addition of further data from high-density peculiar velocity surveys is more successful at overcoming the sample variance than adding further data from redshifts only. We demonstrate that it may be possible to achieve upper bounds of ∑mν ≈ 0.14 eV (68 per cent confidence limit), from upcoming spectroscopic galaxy surveys alone, as long as the peculiar velocity data is available, an improvement of ∼14 per cent over redshift surveys alone, but not as strong as when CMB data are included.

Cosmology with the kinetic Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect: Independent of the optical depth and σ8

Cosmological constraints obtained by the kinetic Sunyaev–Zeldovich experiments are degenerate with the optical depth measurement – an effect that is commonly known as the optical-depth degeneracy. In this work, we introduce a new statistic based on the first moment of relative velocity between pairs in a triplet, which is capable of constraining cosmological parameters independently of the optical depth and of σ8. Using 22 000 N-body simulations from the Quijote suite, we quantified the information content in the new statistic using Fisher matrix forecast. We find that it is able to obtain strong constraints on the cosmological parameters, particularly on the summed neutrino mass. The constraints bring an improvement on all cosmological model parameters by a factor of 6.2–12.9 and 2.3–5.7 when compared to those obtained from the mean pairwise velocity and from the redshift-space halo power spectrum, respectively. Thus, this new statistic paves a way forward in constraining cosmological parameters independent of the optical depth and σ8 when using data from future kinetic Sunyaev–Zeldovich experiments alone.

Avoiding baryonic feedback effects on neutrino mass measurements from CMB lensing

A measurement of the sum of neutrino masses is one of the main applications of upcoming measurements of gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). This measurement can be confounded by modelling uncertainties related to so-called "baryonic effects" on the clustering of matter, arising from gas dynamics, star formation, and feedback from active galactic nuclei and supernovae. In particular, a wrong assumption about the form of baryonic effects on CMB lensing can bias a neutrino mass measurement by a significant fraction of the statistical uncertainty. In this paper, we investigate three methods for mitigating this bias: (1) restricting the use of small-scale CMB lensing information when constraining neutrino mass; (2) using an external tracer to remove the low-redshift contribution to a CMB lensing map; and (3) marginalizing over a parametric model for baryonic effects on large-scale structure. We test these methods using Fisher matrix forecasts for experiments resembling the Simons Observatory and CMB-S4, using a variety of recent hydrodynamical simulations to represent the range of possible baryonic effects, and using cosmic shear measured by the Rubin Observatory's LSST as the tracer in method (2). We find that a combination of (1) and (2), or (3) on its own, will be effective in reducing the bias induced by baryonic effects on a neutrino mass measurement to a negligible level, without a significant increase in the associated statistical uncertainty.

Constraining M ν with the bispectrum. Part II. The information content of the galaxy bispectrum monopole

Massive neutrinos suppress the growth of structure on small scales and leave an imprint on large-scale structure that can be measured to constrain their total mass, M ν. With standard analyses of two-point clustering statistics, M ν constraints are severely limited by parameter degeneracies. Ref. [1] demonstrated that the bispectrum, the next higher-order statistic, can break these degeneracies and dramatically improve constraints on M ν and other cosmological parameters. In this paper, we present the constraining power of the redshift-space galaxy bispectrum monopole, Bg 0. We construct the Molino suite of 75,000 mock galaxy catalogs from the Quijote N-body simulations using the halo occupation distribution (HOD) model, which provides a galaxy bias framework well-suited for simulation-based approaches. Using these mocks, we present Fisher matrix forecasts for {Ωm, Ωb, h, ns , σ8, M ν} and quantify, for the first time, the information content of the Bg 0 down to nonlinear scales. For k max = 0.5 h/Mpc, Bg 0 improves constraints on Ωm, Ωb, h, ns , σ8, and M ν by 2.8, 3.1, 3.8, 4.2, 4.2, and 4.6× over the power spectrum, after marginalizing over HOD parameters. Even with priors from Planck, Bg 0 improves all of the cosmological constraints by ≳ 2×. In fact, for Pg 0+Pg 2 and Bg 0 out to k max = 0.5 h/Mpc with Planck priors, we achieve a 1σ M ν constraint of 0.048 eV, which is tighter than the current best cosmological constraint. While effects such as survey geometry and assembly bias will have an impact, these constraints are derived for (1 h-1 Gpc)3, a substantially smaller volume than upcoming surveys. Therefore, we conclude that the galaxy bispectrum will significantly improve cosmological constraints for upcoming galaxy surveys — especially for M ν.

Jointly fitting weak lensing, x-ray, and Sunyaev-Zel’dovich data to constrain scalar-tensor theories with clusters of galaxies

Degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor (DHOST) theories are considered the most general class of scalar-tensor theories so that any constraints on them apply to the full set of scalar-tensor models. DHOST theories modify the laws of gravity even at galaxy clusters scale hence affecting the weak lensing (WL), X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich observables. We derive the theoretical expression for the lensing convergence $\kappa$, and the pressure profile $P$, of clusters in the framework of DHOST theories, and quantify how much they deviate from their General Relativity (GR) counterparts. We argue that combined measurements of $\kappa$, $P$, and of the electron number density, $n_e$, can constrain both the cluster and DHOST theory parameters. We carry on a Fisher matrix forecasts analysis to investigate whether this is indeed the case considering different scenarios for the spatial resolution and errors on the measured quantities.

Euclid preparation

Aims. The Euclid space telescope will measure the shapes and redshifts of galaxies to reconstruct the expansion history of the Universe and the growth of cosmic structures. The estimation of the expected performance of the experiment, in terms of predicted constraints on cosmological parameters, has so far relied on various individual methodologies and numerical implementations, which were developed for different observational probes and for the combination thereof. In this paper we present validated forecasts, which combine both theoretical and observational ingredients for different cosmological probes. This work is presented to provide the community with reliable numerical codes and methods for Euclid cosmological forecasts. Methods. We describe in detail the methods adopted for Fisher matrix forecasts, which were applied to galaxy clustering, weak lensing, and the combination thereof. We estimated the required accuracy for Euclid forecasts and outline a methodology for their development. We then compare and improve different numerical implementations, reaching uncertainties on the errors of cosmological parameters that are less than the required precision in all cases. Furthermore, we provide details on the validated implementations, some of which are made publicly available, in different programming languages, together with a reference training-set of input and output matrices for a set of specific models. These can be used by the reader to validate their own implementations if required. Results. We present new cosmological forecasts for Euclid. We find that results depend on the specific cosmological model and remaining freedom in each setting, for example flat or non-flat spatial cosmologies, or different cuts at non-linear scales. The numerical implementations are now reliable for these settings. We present the results for an optimistic and a pessimistic choice for these types of settings. We demonstrate that the impact of cross-correlations is particularly relevant for models beyond a cosmological constant and may allow us to increase the dark energy figure of merit by at least a factor of three.

Boosting Monte Carlo sampling with a non-Gaussian fit

ABSTRACT We propose a new method, called Monte Carlo Posterior Fit, to boost the Monte Carlo sampling of likelihood (posterior) functions. The idea is to approximate the posterior function by an analytical multidimensional non-Gaussian fit. The many free parameters of this fit can be obtained by a smaller sampling than is needed to derive the full numerical posterior. In the examples that we consider, based on supernovae and cosmic microwave background data, we find that one needs an order of magnitude smaller sampling than in the standard algorithms to achieve comparable precision. This method can be applied to a variety of situations and is expected to significantly improve the performance of the Monte Carlo routines in all the cases in which sampling is very time consuming. Finally, it can also be applied to Fisher matrix forecasts and can help solve various limitations of the standard approach.

Modeling relativistic contributions to the halo power spectrum dipole

We study the power spectrum dipole of an N-body simulation which includes relativistic effects through ray-tracing and covers the low redshift Universe up to zmax = 0.465 (RayGalGroup simulation). We model relativistic corrections as well as wide-angle, evolution, window and lightcone effects. Our model includes all relativistic corrections up to third-order including third-order bias expansion. We consider all terms which depend linearly on H/k (weak field approximation). We also study the impact of 1-loop corrections to the matter power spectrum for the gravitational redshift and transverse Doppler effect. We found wide-angle and window function effects to significantly contribute to the dipole signal. When accounting for all contributions, our dipole model can accurately capture the gravitational redshift and Doppler terms up to the smallest scales included in our comparison (k=0.48 h Mpc−1), while our model for the transverse Doppler term is less accurate. We find the Doppler term to be the dominant signal for this low redshift sample. We use Fisher matrix forecasts to study the potential for the future Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) to detect relativistic contributions to the power spectrum dipole. A conservative estimate suggests that the DESI-BGS sample should be able to have a detection of at least 4.4σ, while more optimistic estimates find detections of up to 10σ. Detecting these effects in the galaxy distribution allows new tests of gravity on the largest scales, providing an interesting additional science case for galaxy survey experiments.

Constraining Mν with the bispectrum. Part I. Breaking parameter degeneracies

Massive neutrinos suppress the growth of structure below their free-streaming scale and leave an imprint on large-scale structure. Measuring this imprint allows us to constrain the sum of neutrino masses, Mν, a key parameter in particle physics beyond the Standard Model. However, degeneracies among cosmological parameters, especially between Mν and σ8, limit the constraining power of standard two-point clustering statistics. In this work, we investigate whether we can break these degeneracies and constrain Mν with the next higher-order correlation function—the bispectrum. We first examine the redshift-space halo bispectrum of 800 N-body simulations from the HADES suite and demonstrate that the bispectrum helps break the Mν-σ8 degeneracy. Then using 22,000 N-body simulations of the Quijote suite, we quantify for the first time the full information content of the redshift-space halo bispectrum down to nonlinear scales using a Fisher matrix forecast of {Ωm, Ωb, h, ns, σ8, Mν}. For kmax=0.5 H/Mpc, the bispectrum provides Ωm, Ωb, h, ns, and σ8 constraints 1.9, 2.6, 3.1, 3.6, and 2.6 times tighter than the power spectrum. For Mν, the bispectrum improves the 1σ constraint from 0.2968 to 0.0572 eV—over 5 times tighter than the power spectrum. Even with priors from Planck, the bispectrum improves Mν constraints by a factor of 1.8. Although we reserve marginalizing over a more complete set of bias parameters to the next paper of the series, these constraints are derived for a (1 h−1Gpc)3 box, a substantially smaller volume than upcoming surveys. Thus, our results demonstrate that the bispectrum offers significant improvements over the power spectrum, especially for constraining Mν.

J-PAS: forecasts on dark energy and modified gravity theories

ABSTRACT The next generation of galaxy surveys will allow us to test one of the most fundamental assumptions of the standard cosmology, i.e. that gravity is governed by the general theory of relativity (GR). In this paper, we investigate the ability of the Javalambre Physics of the Accelerating Universe Astrophysical Survey (J-PAS) to constrain GR and its extensions. Based on the J-PAS information on clustering and gravitational lensing, we perform a Fisher matrix forecast on the effective Newton constant, μ, and the gravitational slip parameter, η, whose deviations from unity would indicate a breakdown of GR. Similar analysis is also performed for the DESI and Euclid surveys and compared to J-PAS with two configurations providing different areas, namely an initial expectation with 4000 deg2 and the future best case scenario with 8500 deg2. We show that J-PAS will be able to measure the parameters μ and η at a sensitivity of $2\!-\!7{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, and will provide the best constraints in the interval z = 0.3–0.6, thanks to the large number of ELGs detectable in that redshift range. We also discuss the constraining power of J-PAS for dark energy models with a time-dependent equation-of-state parameter of the type w(a) = w0 + wa(1 − a), obtaining Δw0 = 0.058 and Δwa = 0.24 for the absolute errors of the dark energy parameters.