Related papers: Steps towards Nonlinear Cluster Inversion Through …
Gravitational lensing provides a unique probe of the inner 10-1000 pc of distant galaxies (z=0.2-1). Lens theory predicts that every strong lens system should have a faint image near the center of the lens galaxy, which should be visible in…
Upcoming and ongoing large area weak lensing surveys will also discover large samples of galaxy clusters. Accurate and precise masses of galaxy clusters are of major importance for cosmology, for example, in establishing well calibrated…
The mass distribution of galaxy clusters can be determined from the study of the projected phase-space distribution of cluster galaxies. The main advantage of this method as compared to others, is that it allows determination of cluster…
The developments summarized with the name ``weak gravitational lensing'' have led to exciting possibilities to study the (statistical properties of the) dark matter distribution in the Universe. Concentrating on those aspects which require…
We propose a new technique, which we call the lens parallax method, to determine simultaneously the redshift distribution of the faint blue galaxies and the mass distribution of foreground clusters of galaxies. The method is based on…
We investigate how observations of strong lensing can be used to infer cosmological parameters, in particular the equation of state of dark energy. We focus on the growth of the critical lines of lensing clusters with the source redshift as…
We present a technique for estimating the mass in the outskirts of galaxy clusters where the usual assumption of dynamical equilibrium is not valid. The method assumes that clusters form through hierarchical clustering and requires only…
In the strong lensing regime non-parametric lens models struggle to achieve sufficient angular resolution for a meaningful derivation of the central cluster mass distribution. The problem lies mainly with cluster members which perturb…
We discuss a method to build up and study a sample of distant galaxies, with 2<z<5, using the gravitational amplification effect in cluster-lenses for which the mass distribution is well known. The candidates are selected close to the…
Recently, it has been shown that it is possible to reconstruct the projected mass distribution of a cluster from weak lensing provided that both the geometry of the universe and the probability distribution of galaxy redshifts are known;…
All lens modeling methods, simply-parametrized, hybrid, and free-form, use assumptions to reconstruct galaxy clusters with multiply imaged sources, though the nature of these assumptions (priors) can differ considerably between methods.…
Weak lensing is one of the best available diagnostic tools to measure the total density profiles of distant clusters of galaxies. Unfortunately, it suffers from the well-known mass-sheet degeneracy, so that weak lensing analyses cannot lead…
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…
Cluster mass profiles are tests of models of structure formation. Only two current observational methods of determining the mass profile, gravitational lensing and the caustic technique, are independent of the assumption of dynamical…
We explore the use of strong lensing by galaxy clusters to constrain the dark energy equation of state and its possible time variation. The cores of massive clusters often contain several multiply imaged systems of background galaxies at…
Galaxy clusters are powerful probes of astrophysics and cosmology through gravitational lensing: the clusters' mass, dominated by 85% dark matter, distorts background light. Yet, mass reconstruction lacks the scalability and large-scale…
The weak gravitational lensing distortion of distant galaxy images (defined as sources) probes the projected large-scale matter distribution in the Universe. To improve quality in the 3D mass mapping using 3D-lensing, we combine the lensing…
Clusters of galaxies as gravitational lenses allow to study the stellar content and properties of high-z galaxies much fainter than the usual spectroscopic field surveys. We review the recent results obtained on the identification and study…
When a luminous source is extended, its distortions by weak gravitational lensing are richer than a mere combination of magnification and shear. In a recent work, we proposed an elegant formalism based on complex analysis to describe and…
We explore the use of the tangential component of weak lensing shear to characterize the ellipticity of clusters of galaxies. We introduce an ellipticity estimator, and quantify its properties for isolated clusters from LCDM N-body…