We derive cosmological constraints using a galaxy cluster sample selected from the 2500 deg² SPT-SZ survey. The sample spans the redshift range 0.25 < z < 1.75 and contains 343 clusters with SZ detection significance ξ > 5. The sample is supplemented with optical weak gravitational lensing measurements of 32 clusters with 0.29 < z < 1.13 (from Magellan and Hubble Space Telescope) and X-ray measurements of 89 clusters with 0.25 < z < 1.75 (from Chandra). We rely on minimal modeling assumptions: (i) weak lensing provides an accurate means of measuring halo masses, (ii) the mean SZ and X-ray observables are related to the true halo mass through power-law relations in mass and dimensionless Hubble parameter E(z) with a priori unknown parameters, and (iii) there is (correlated, lognormal) intrinsic scatter and measurement noise relating these observables to their mean relations. We simultaneously fit for these astrophysical modeling parameters and for cosmology. Assuming a flat νΛCDM model, in which the sum of neutrino masses is a free parameter, we measure Ω_m = 0.276 ± 0.047, σ ₈ = 0.781 ± 0.037, and σ ₈(Ω_m/0.3)^0.2 = 0.766 ±0.025. The redshift evolutions of the X-ray Y _X–mass and M _gas–mass relations are both consistent with self-similar evolution to within 1σ. The mass slope of the Y _X–mass relation shows a 2.3σ deviation from self-similarity. Similarly, the mass slope of the M _gas–mass relation is steeper than self-similarity at the 2.5σ level. In a νwCDM cosmology, we measure the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w = −1.55 ± 0.41 from the cluster data. We perform a measurement of the growth of structure since redshift z ∼ 1.7 and find no evidence for tension with the prediction from general relativity. This is the first analysis of the SPT cluster sample that uses direct weak-lensing mass calibration and is a step toward using the much larger weak-lensing data set from DES. We provide updated redshift and mass estimates for the SPT sample.

We present galaxy stellar mass functions (GSMFs) at z = 4–8 from a rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) selected sample of ∼4500 galaxies, found via photometric redshifts over an area of ∼280 arcmin² in the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS)/Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) fields and the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The deepest Spitzer/IRAC data to date and the relatively large volume allow us to place a better constraint at both the low- and high-mass ends of the GSMFs compared to previous space-based studies from pre-CANDELS observations. Supplemented by a stacking analysis, we find a linear correlation between the rest-frame UV absolute magnitude at 1500 Å ( ) and logarithmic stellar mass ( ) that holds for galaxies with . We use simulations to validate our method of measuring the slope of the –M _UV relation, finding that the bias is minimized with a hybrid technique combining photometry of individual bright galaxies with stacked photometry for faint galaxies. The resultant measured slopes do not significantly evolve over z = 4–8, while the normalization of the trend exhibits a weak evolution toward lower masses at higher redshift. We combine the –M _UV distribution with observed rest-frame UV luminosity functions at each redshift to derive the GSMFs, finding that the low-mass-end slope becomes steeper with increasing redshift from at z = 4 to at z = 8. The inferred stellar mass density, when integrated over –10¹³ M _⊙, increases by a factor of between z = 7 and z = 4 and is in good agreement with the time integral of the cosmic star formation rate density.

We present cosmological parameter constraints obtained from galaxy clusters identified by their Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect signature in the 2500 square-degree South Pole Telescope Sunyaev Zel’dovich (SPT-SZ) survey. We consider the 377 cluster candidates identified at with a detection significance greater than five, corresponding to the 95% purity threshold for the survey. We compute constraints on cosmological models using the measured cluster abundance as a function of mass and redshift. We include additional constraints from multi-wavelength observations, including Chandra X-ray data for 82 clusters and a weak lensing-based prior on the normalization of the mass-observable scaling relations. Assuming a spatially flat ΛCDM cosmology, we combine the cluster data with a prior on H ₀ and find and , with the parameter combination . These results are in good agreement with constraints from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from SPT, WMAP, and Planck, as well as with constraints from other cluster data sets. We also consider several extensions to ΛCDM, including models in which the equation of state of dark energy w, the species-summed neutrino mass, and/or the effective number of relativistic species ( ) are free parameters. When combined with constraints from the Planck CMB, H ₀, baryon acoustic oscillation, and SNe, adding the SPT cluster data improves the w constraint by 14%, to .