Related papers: Mass Reconstruction using Particle Based Lensing I…
Strong-lensing images provide a wealth of information both about the magnified source and about the dark matter distribution in the lens. Precision analyses of these images can be used to constrain the nature of dark matter. However, this…
Precise modelling of strong lensing systems can be affected by external mass distributions, e.g. the group or cluster within which the lens is embedded. In this article, we propose to turn this limitation to our advantage and to use precise…
Although weak lensing (WL) is a powerful method to estimate a galaxy cluster mass without any dynamical assumptions, a model bias can arise when the cluster density profile departs from the assumed model profile. In a merging system, the…
Merging galaxy clusters present a unique opportunity to study the properties of dark matter in an astrophysical context. These are rare and extreme cosmic events in which the bulk of the baryonic matter becomes displaced from the dark…
In this paper we provide a statistical analysis of the parameter-free method often used in weak lensing mass reconstructions. It is found that a proper assessment of the errors involved in such a non-local analysis requires the study of the…
We study the reliability of dark matter (DM) profile determinations for rich clusters of galaxies based on weak gravitational lensing measurements. We consider three functional forms for the mass distribution: a softened isothermal sphere…
Weak gravitational lensing has proven to be a powerful tool to map directly the distribution of dark matter in the Universe. The technique, currently used, relies on the accurate measurement of the gravitational shear that corresponds to…
We report on the detection of dark matter in the cluster Abell 2218 using the weak gravitational distortion of background galaxies. We find a highly significant, coherent detection of the distortion in the images of the background galaxies.…
The analysis of optical images of galaxy-galaxy strong gravitational lensing systems can provide important information about the distribution of dark matter at small scales. However, the modeling and statistical analysis of these images is…
We present a reconstructions of galaxy-cluster-scale mass distributions from simulated gravitational lensing data sets including strong lensing, weak lensing shear, and measurements of quadratic image distortions -- flexion. The lensing…
High resolution HST/ACS images of the galaxy cluster RX J1347-1145 have enabled us to identify several new multiple image candidates in the cluster, including a 5 image system with a central image. The multiple images allow us to construct…
Merging clusters of galaxies are unique in their power to directly probe and place limits on the self-interaction cross-section of dark matter. Detailed observations of several merging clusters have shown the intracluster gas to be…
The surface mass density of a cluster of galaxies, and thus its total mass, can be estimated from its lens magnification. The magnification can be determined from the variation in number counts of its background galaxies. In the weak…
We present a strong lensing modeling technique based on versatile basis sets for the lens and source planes. Our method uses high performance Monte Carlo algorithms, allows for an adaptive build up of complexity and bridges the gap between…
We present a weak lensing analysis of the double cluster system Abell 222 and Abell 223. The lensing reconstruction shows evidence for a possible dark matter filament connecting both clusters. The case for a filamentary connection between A…
We present high-resolution mass reconstructions for five massive cluster-lenses spanning a redshift range from z = 0.18 - 0.57 utilizing archival Hubble Space Telescope data and applying galaxy-galaxy lensing techniques. These detailed mass…
We develop the maximum-entropy weak shear mass reconstruction method presented in earlier papers by taking each background galaxy image shape as an independent estimator of the reduced shear field and incorporating an intrinsic smoothness…
Abell 1689 is a galaxy cluster at $z=0.183$ where previous measurements of its mass using various techniques gave discrepant results. We present a new detailed measurement of the mass with the data based on X-ray observations with the…
Subaru observations of A1689 (z=0.183) are used to derive an accurate, model-independent mass profile for the entire cluster, r<2 Mpc/h, by combining magnification bias and distortion measurements. The projected mass profile steepens…
We compare X-ray and weak-lensing masses for four galaxy clusters that comprise the top-ranked shear-selected cluster system in the Deep Lens Survey. The weak-lensing observations of this system, which is associated with A781, are from the…