The Weak Lensing Signal And The Clustering Of Boss Galaxies. I. Measurements

A joint analysis of the clustering of galaxies and their weak gravitational lensing signal is well-suited to simultaneously constrain the galaxy-halo connection as well as the cosmological parameters by breaking the degeneracy between galaxy bias and the amplitude of clustering signal. In a series of two papers, we perform such an analysis at the highest redshift (z similar to 0.53) in the literature using CMASS galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Eleventh Data Release (BOSS DR11) catalog spanning 8300 deg(2). In this paper, we present details of the clustering and weak lensing measurements of these galaxies. We define a subsample of 400,916 CMASS galaxies based on their redshifts and stellar-mass estimates so that the galaxies constitute an approximately volume-limited and similar population over the redshift range 0.47

Strong lensing in the inner halo of galaxy clusters

Jean-Paul Richard Kneib

We present an axially symmetric formula to calculate the probability of finding gravitational arcs in galaxy clusters, being induced by their massive dark matter haloes, as a function of clusters redshifts and virial masses. The formula includes the ellipticity of the clusters dark matter potential by using a pseudo-elliptical approximation. The probabilities are calculated and compared for two dark matter halo profiles, the Navarro, Frenk and White (NFW) and the non-singular- isothermal-sphere (NSIS). We demonstrate the power of our formulation through a Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test on the strong lensing statistics of an X-ray bright sample of low-redshift Abell clusters. This KS test allows us to establish limits on the values of the concentration parameter for the NFW profile (c(Delta)) and the core radius for the NSIS profile (r(c)), which are related to the lowest cluster redshift (z(cut)) where strong arcs can be observed. For NFW dark matter profiles, we infer cluster haloes with concentrations that are consistent to those predicted by Lambda CDM simulations. As for NSIS dark matter profiles, we find only upper limits for the clusters core radii and thus do not rule out a purely SIS model. For alternative mass profiles, our formulation provides constraints through zcut on the parameters that control the concentration of mass in the inner region of the clusters haloes. We find that zcut is expected to lie in the 0.0-0.2 redshift, highlighting the need to include very low-z clusters in samples to study the clusters mass profiles.

Oxford Univ Press2016

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Tomographic cross-correlations between Dark Energy Survey galaxies and CMB lensing from South Pole Telescope plus Planck

Jonathan Andrew Blazek, Eduardo Sanchez

We measure the cross-correlation between REDMAGIC galaxies selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) year 1 data and gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) reconstructed from South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck data over 1289 deg(2). When combining measurements across multiple galaxy redshift bins spanning the redshift range of 0.15 < z < 0.90, we reject the hypothesis of no correlation at 19.9 sigma significance. When removing small-scale data points where thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signal and nonlinear galaxy bias could potentially bias our results, the detection significance is reduced to 9.9 sigma. We perform a joint analysis of galaxy-CMB lensing cross-correlations and galaxy clustering to constrain cosmology, finding Omega m = 0.276(-0.030)(+0.029) and S-8 = sigma(8) root Omega(m)/0.3 = 0.800(-0.094)(+0.090). we also perform two alternate analyses aimed at constraining only the growth rate of cosmic structure as a function of redshift, finding consistency with predictions from the concordance Lambda CDM model. The measurements presented here are part of a joint cosmological analysis that combines galaxy clustering, galaxy lensing and CMB lensing using data from DES, SPT and Planck.

AMER PHYSICAL SOC2019

A new window of exploration in the mass spectrum: strong lensing by galaxy groups in the SL2S

Jean-Paul Richard Kneib, Johan Richard

The existence of strong lensing systems with Einstein radii covering the full mass spectrum, from similar to 1-2 '' (produced by galaxy scale dark matter haloes) to >10 '' (produced by galaxy cluster scale haloes) have long been predicted. Many lenses with Einstein radii around 1-2 '' and above 10 '' have been reported but very few in between. In this article, we present a sample of 13 strong lensing systems with Einstein radii in the range 3 ''-8 '' (or image separations in the range 6 ''-16 ''), i.e. systems produced by galaxy group scale dark matter haloes. This group sample spans a redshift range from 0.3 to 0.8. This opens a new window of exploration in the mass spectrum, around 10(13)-10(14) M-circle dot, a crucial range for understanding the transition between galaxies and galaxy clusters, and a range that have not been extensively probed with lensing techniques. These systems constitute a subsample of the Strong Lensing Legacy Survey (SL2S), which aims to discover strong lensing systems in the Canada France Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS). The sample is based on a search over 100 square degrees, implying a number density of similar to 0.13 groups per square degree. Our analysis is based on multi-colour CFHTLS images complemented with Hubble Space Telescope imaging and ground based spectroscopy. Large scale properties are derived from both the light distribution of elliptical galaxies group members and weak lensing of the faint background galaxy population. On small scales, the strong lensing analysis yields Einstein radii between 2.5 '' and 8 ''. On larger scales, strong lens centres coincide with peaks of light distribution, suggesting that light traces mass. Most of the luminosity maps have complicated shapes, implying that these intermediate mass structures may be dynamically young. A weak lensing signal is detected for 6 groups and upper limits are provided for 6 others. Fitting the reduced shear with a Singular Isothermal Sphere, we find sigma(SIS) similar to 500 km s(-1) with large error bars and an upper limit of similar to 900 km s(-1) for the whole sample (except for the highest redshift structure whose velocity dispersion is consistent with that of a galaxy cluster). The mass-to-light ratio for the sample is found to be M/L-i similar to 250 (solar units, corrected for evolution), with an upper limit of 500. This compares with mass-to-light ratios of small groups (with sigma(SIS) similar to 300 km s(-1)) and galaxy clusters (with sigma(SIS) > 1000 km s(-1)), thus bridging the gap between these mass scales. The group sample released in this paper will be complemented with other observations, providing a unique sample to study this important intermediate mass range in further detail.

2009

A new window of exploration in the mass spectrum: strong lensing by galaxy groups in the SL2S

Jean-Paul Richard Kneib, Johan Richard

2009