Related papers: An Upper Limit on Omega_matter Using Lensed Arcs
How much matter is there in the universe? Does the universe have the critical density needed to stop its expansion, or is the universe underweight and destined to expand forever? We show that several independent measures, especially those…
The next generation of large sky photometric surveys will finally be able to use arc statistics as a cosmological probe. Here we present the first of a series of papers on this topic. In particular, we study how arc counts are sensitive to…
We show that the counts of galaxy clusters in future deep cluster surveys can place strong constraints on the matter density, Omega_m, the vacuum energy density, Omega_L, and the normalization of the matter power spectrum, sigma_8.…
We use the observed evolution of the galaxy cluster X-ray integral temperature distribution function between z=0.05 and z=0.32 in an attempt to constrain the value of the density parameter, Omega_0, for both open and spatially-flat…
The nature of the dark sector of the Universe remains one of the outstanding problems in modern cosmology, with the search for new observational probes guiding the development of the next generation of observational facilities. Clues come…
We constrain f_nu = Omega_nu / Omega_m, the fractional contribution of neutrinos to the total mass density in the Universe, by comparing the power spectrum of fluctuations derived from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey with power spectra for…
We present results of weak lensing cluster counts obtained from 11 sq.deg SuprimeCam data. Although the area is much smaller than previous work dealing with weak lensing peak statistics, the number density of galaxies usable for weak…
We present cosmological constraints from measurements of the gas mass fraction, $f_{gas}$, for massive, dynamically relaxed galaxy clusters. Our data set consists of Chandra observations of 40 such clusters, identified in a comprehensive…
Recent observations of galaxy clusters with the SCUBA instrument on the James Clarke Maxwell Telescope have revealed a sample of gravitationally lensed sources at sub-mm wavelengths. We extend our previous calculation on the expected number…
The latest result in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search (SQLS) has set the first cosmological constraints on negative-mass compact objects and Ellis wormholes. There are no multiple images lensed by the above two exotic objects…
A synopsis of the recent results from our study of galaxy-galaxy lensing in clusters is presented. We have applied our analysis techniques to the sample of HST cluster-lenses that span a redshift range from redshift 0.18 to 0.58. We find…
The number of rich galaxy clusters per unit volume is a strong function of Omega, the cosmological density parameter, and sigma_8, the linear extrapolation to z=0 of the density contrast in 8/h Mpc spheres. The CNOC cluster redshift survey…
An observation of the gravitationally lensed system 2016+112 with the Chandra X-ray Observatory has resolved a mystery regarding the proposed presence of a dark matter object in the lens plane of this system. The Chandra ACIS observation…
The properties of substructure in galaxy clusters, exquisitely probed by gravitational lensing, offer a stringent test of dark matter (DM) models. Combining strong- and weak-lensing data for massive clusters, we map their total mass --…
Six challenges for the standard cosmological model $\Lambda$CDM are listed, which arise when comparing theoretical predictions with observational data on scales of ~1 Mpc. Different parameters of luminous and dwarf galaxies in the local…
We were asked to debate the value of the cosmological mass-density parameter Omega. Is Omega_m=1 in accordance with the simplest model? Is Omega_m much smaller as indicated by some observations? There is conflicting evidence. We lay out the…
We use large-scale cosmological simulations to estimate the mass-to-light ratio of galaxy systems as a function of scale, and compare the results with observations of galaxies, groups, clusters, and superclusters of galaxies. We find…
Recent studies have shown that the cross-correlation coefficient between galaxies and dark matter is very close to unity on scales outside a few virial radii of galaxy halos, independent of the details of how galaxies populate dark matter…
Cluster weak lensing is a sensitive probe of cosmology, particularly the amplitude of matter clustering $\sigma_8$ and matter density parameter $\Omega_m$. The main nuisance parameter in a cluster weak lensing cosmological analysis is the…
Observations of a flat density profile in the cores of dark-matter-dominated halos on the two extremes of mass for virialized objects in the universe, dwarf galaxies and galaxy clusters, present a serious challenge to the current standard…