Related papers: Observables In Cosmology: Three Astronomical Persp…
Weak gravitational lensing is one of the key probes of cosmology. Cosmic shear surveys aimed at measuring the distribution of matter in the universe are currently being carried out (Pan-STARRS) or planned for the coming decade (DES, LSST,…
I discuss the classical cosmological tests-- angular size-redshift, flux-redshift, and galaxy number counts-- in the light of the cosmology prescribed by the intepretation of CMB anisotropies. The discussion is somewhat of a primer for…
Propagation of light in the universe with structure which amplify and modify the shape of distant galaxies, producing a correlation between nearby and distant density of galaxies, is a phenomena very important in cosmology for determining…
We present a three dimensional cosmic shear analysis of the Hubble Space Telescope COSMOS survey, the largest ever optical imaging program performed in space. We have measured the shapes of galaxies for the tell-tale distortions caused by…
It is usually assumed that the ellipticity power spectrum measured in weak lensing observations can be expressed as an integral over the underlying matter power spectrum. This is true at second order in the gravitational potential. We…
Strong lensing has developed into an important astrophysical tool for probing both cosmology and galaxies (their structure, formation, and evolution). Using the gravitational lensing theory and cluster mass distribution model, we try to…
This dissertation investigates three main topics, all of which dealing with alternative, higher-order gravity theories in four dimensions. Firstly, we study the variational and conformal structure of those theories. Next, we analyse their…
Cosmic shear is the distortion of images of distant galaxies due to weak gravitational lensing by the large-scale structure in the Universe. Such images are coherently deformed by the tidal field of matter inhomogeneities along the line of…
We investigate the cosmological applications of new gravitational scalar-tensor theories, which are novel modifications of gravity possessing 2+2 propagating degrees of freedom, arising from a Lagrangian that includes the Ricci scalar and…
The gravitational waves generated in the coalescence of massive binary black holes will be measurable by LISA to enormous distances. Redshifts z~10 or larger (depending somewhat on the mass of the binary) can potentially be probed by such…
In this thesis, we discuss some of the applications of cosmological perturbation theory in the late universe. We begin by reviewing the tools used to understand the standard model of cosmology theoretically and to compute its observational…
We suggest a set of morphological measures that we believe can help in quantifying the shapes of two-dimensional cosmological images such as galaxies, clusters, and superclusters of galaxies. The method employs non-parametric morphological…
Doppler lensing is the apparent change in object size and magnitude due to peculiar velocities. Objects falling into an overdensity appear larger on its near side, and smaller on its far side, than typical objects at the same redshifts.…
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…
The magnification of galaxies in modern galaxy surveys induces additional correlations in the cosmic shear, galaxy-galaxy lensing and clustering observables used in modern lensing "3x2pt" analyses, due to sample selection. In this paper, we…
We discuss the first results from two successful simulations of galaxy formation within a cosmological volume. With over 2000 large objects forming in each we have sufficient numbers to reliably produce both galaxy correlation and…
Strong gravitational lensing at the galaxy scale is a valuable tool for various applications in astrophysics and cosmology. The primary uses of galaxy-scale lensing are to study elliptical galaxies' mass structure and evolution, constrain…
We use astrophysical data to shed light on fundamental physics by constraining parametrized theoretical cosmological and gravitational models. Gravitational parameters are those constants that parametrize possible departures from Einstein's…
Studies of weak gravitational lensing by large-scale structures require the measurement of the distortions introduced to the shapes of distant galaxies at the few percent level by anisotropic light deflection along the line of sight. To…
Gravitational Lensing is an efficient tool to probe: the mass distribution of collapsed systems: galaxies and clusters; high redshift objects thanks to the gravitational amplification; and the geometry of the Universe. I will review here…