Probing dark energy with tomographic weak-lensing aperture mass statistics


Abstract in English

We forecast and optimize the cosmological power of various weak-lensing aperture mass ($M_{rm ap}$) map statistics for future cosmic shear surveys, including peaks, voids, and the full distribution of pixels (1D $M_{rm ap}$). These alternative methods probe the non-Gaussian regime of the matter distribution, adding complementary cosmological information to the classical two-point estimators. Based on the SLICS and cosmo-SLICS $N$-body simulations, we build Euclid-like mocks to explore the $S_8 - Omega_{rm m} - w_0$ parameter space. We develop a new tomographic formalism which exploits the cross-information between redshift slices (cross-$M_{rm ap}$) in addition to the information from individual slices (auto-$M_{rm ap}$) probed in the standard approach. Our auto-$M_{rm ap}$ forecast precision is in good agreement with the recent literature on weak-lensing peak statistics, and is improved by $sim 50$% when including cross-$M_{rm ap}$. It is further boosted by the use of 1D $M_{rm ap}$ that outperforms all other estimators, including the shear two-point correlation function ($gamma$-2PCF). When considering all tomographic terms, our uncertainty range on the structure growth parameter $S_8$ is enhanced by $sim 45$% (almost twice better) when combining 1D $M_{rm ap}$ and the $gamma$-2PCF compared to the $gamma$-2PCF alone. We additionally measure the first combined forecasts on the dark energy equation of state $w_0$, finding a factor of three reduction of the statistical error compared to the $gamma$-2PCF alone. This demonstrates that the complementary cosmological information explored by non-Gaussian $M_{rm ap}$ map statistics not only offers the potential to improve the constraints on the recent $sigma_8$ - $Omega_{rm m}$ tension, but also constitutes an avenue to understand the accelerated expansion of our Universe.

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