Related papers: Cosmic convergence and shear with extended sources
Weak gravitational lensing observations probe the spectrum and evolution of density fluctuations and the cosmological parameters which govern them. The non-linear evolution of large scale structure produces a non-Gaussian signal which is…
We reformulate the transport equation which determines the size, shape and orientation of infinitesimal light beams in arbitrary spacetimes. The behaviour of such light beams near vertices and conjugate points is investigated, with special…
Cosmic shear probes the distribution of dark matter via gravitational lensing of distant, background galaxies. We describe our cosmic shear survey consisting of deep blank fields observed with the Keck II telescope. We have found biases in…
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of weak gravitational lensing and its current applications in cosmology. We begin by introducing the fundamental concepts of gravitational lensing and derive the key equations for the…
The analysis of strong lensing images usually involves an external convergence and shear, which are meant to model the effect of perturbations along the line of sight, on top of the main lens. Such a description of line-of-sight…
We explore the sensitivity of weak lensing observables to the expansion history of the universe and to the growth of cosmic structures, as well as the relative contribution of both effects to constraining cosmological parameters. We utilize…
Weak-lensing peak counts provide a straightforward way to constrain cosmology by linking local maxima of the lensing signal to the mass function. Recent applications to data have already been numerous and fruitful. However, the importance…
We investigate the expected correlation between the weak gravitational shear of distant galaxies and the orientation of foreground galaxies, through the use of numerical simulations. This shear-ellipticity correlation can mimic a…
The observed acceleration of the universe, explained through dark energy, could alternatively be explained through a modification of gravity that would also induce modifications in the evolution of cosmological perturbations. We use new…
In this paper we discuss the commonly-used limiting cases, or approximations, for two-point cosmic shear statistics. We discuss the most prominent assumptions in this statistic: the flat-sky (small angle limit), the Limber (Bessel-to-delta…
(Abridged) Weak gravitational lensing induces distortions on the images of background galaxies, and thus provides a direct measure of mass fluctuations in the universe. Since the distortions induced by lensing on the images of background…
In this brief review I consider the advances made in weak gravitational lensing over the last 8 years, concentrating on the large scales - cosmic shear. I outline the theoretical developments, observational status, and the challenges which…
It is now routine to measure the weak gravitational lensing shear signal from the mean ellipticity of distant galaxies. However, conversion between ellipticity and shear assumes local linearity of the lensing potential (ie that the spatial…
The frequency and effects of multiple weak deflections in galaxy-galaxy lensing are investigated via Monte Carlo simulations. The lenses in the simulations are galaxies with known redshifts and known rest-frame blue luminosities. The…
As the volume and quality of modern galaxy surveys increase, so does the difficulty of measuring the cosmological signal imprinted in galaxy shapes. Weak gravitational lensing sourced by the most massive structures in the Universe generates…
We present a comprehensive full-sky 3-dimensional analysis of the weak-lensing fields and their corresponding power spectra. Using the formalism of spin-weight spherical harmonics and spherical Bessel functions, we relate the two-point…
We investigate the extent to which cosmic size magnification may be used to com- plement cosmic shear in weak gravitational lensing surveys, with a view to obtaining high-precision estimates of cosmological parameters. Using simulated…
We study how joint shear and magnification measurements improve the statistical precision of weak lensing mass calibration experiments, relative to standard shear-only analysis. For our magnification measurements, we consider not only the…
Weak gravitational lensing observations probe the spectrum and evolution of density fluctuations and the cosmological parameters which govern them. At low redshifts, the non-linear gravitational evolution of large scale structure produces a…
Now that weak lensing signals on the order of a percent are actively being searched for (cosmic shear, galaxy-galaxy lensing, large radii in clusters...) it is important to investigate how accurately weak shears can be determined. Many…