Higher-order, non-Gaussian aspects of the large-scale structure carry valuable information on structure formation and cosmology, which is complementary to second-order statistics. In this work we measure second- and third-order weak-lensing aperture-
mass moments from CFHTLenS and combine those with CMB anisotropy probes. The third moment is measured with a significance of $2sigma$. The combined constraint on $Sigma_8 = sigma_8 (Omega_{rm m}/0.27)^alpha$ is improved by 10%, in comparison to the second-order only, and the allowed ranges for $Omega_{rm m}$ and $sigma_8$ are substantially reduced. Including general triangles of the lensing bispectrum yields tighter constraints compared to probing mainly equilateral triangles. Second- and third-order CFHTLenS lensing measurements improve Planck CMB constraints on $Omega_{rm m}$ and $sigma_8$ by 26% for flat $Lambda$CDM. For a model with free curvature, the joint CFHTLenS-Planck result is $Omega_{rm m} = 0.28 pm 0.02$ (68% confidence), which is an improvement of 43% compared to Planck alone. We test how our results are potentially subject to three astrophysical sources of contamination: source-lens clustering, the intrinsic alignment of galaxy shapes, and baryonic effects. We explore future limitations of the cosmological use of third-order weak lensing, such as the nonlinear model and the Gaussianity of the likelihood function.
Scaling properties of galaxy cluster observables with mass provide central insights into the processes shaping clusters. Calibrating proxies for cluster mass will be crucial to cluster cosmology with upcoming surveys like eROSITA and Euclid. The rece
nt Planck results led to suggestions that X-ray masses might be biased low by $sim!40$ %, more than previously considered. We extend the direct calibration of the weak lensing -- X-ray mass scaling towards lower masses (as low as $1!times!10^{14},mathrm{M}_{odot}$) in a sample representative of the $z!sim!0.4$--$0.5$ population. We investigate the scaling of MMT/Megacam weak lensing (WL) masses for $8$ clusters at $0.39!leq!z!leq!0.80$ as part of the emph{400d} WL programme with hydrostatic textit{Chandra} X-ray masses as well as those based on the proxies, e.g. $Y_{mathrm{X}}!=!T_{mathrm{X}}M_{mathrm{gas}}$. Overall, we find good agreement between WL and X-ray masses, with different mass bias estimators all consistent with zero. Subdividing the sample, we find the high-mass subsample to show no significant mass bias while for the low-mass subsample, there is a bias towards overestimated X-ray masses at the $sim!2sigma$ level for some mass proxies. The overall scatter in the mass-mass scaling relations is surprisingly low. Neither observation can be traced back to the parameter settings in the WL analysis. We do not find evidence for a strong ($sim!40$ %) underestimate in the X-ray masses, as suggested to reconcile Planck cluster counts and cosmological constraints. For high-mass clusters, our measurements are consistent with studies in the literature. The mass dependent bias, significant at $sim!2sigma$, may hint at a physically different cluster population (less relaxed clusters with more substructure and mergers); or it may be due to small number statistics.
We present a quantitative analysis of the largest contiguous maps of projected mass density obtained from gravitational lensing shear. We use data from the 154 deg2 covered by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey. Our study is the first
attempt to quantitatively characterize the scientific value of lensing maps, which could serve in the future as a complementary approach to the study of the dark universe with gravitational lensing. We show that mass maps contain unique cosmological information beyond that of traditional two-points statistical analysis techniques. Using a series of numerical simulations, we first show how, reproducing the CFHTLenS observing conditions, gravitational lensing inversion provides a reliable estimate of the projected matter distribution of large scale structure. We validate our analysis by quantifying the robustness of the maps with various statistical estimators. We then apply the same process to the CFHTLenS data. We find that the 2-points correlation function of the projected mass is consistent with the cosmological analysis performed on the shear correlation function discussed in the CFHTLenS companion papers. The maps also lead to a significant measurement of the third order moment of the projected mass, which is in agreement with analytic predictions, and to a marginal detection of the fourth order moment. Tests for residual systematics are found to be consistent with zero for the statistical estimators we used. A new approach for the comparison of the reconstructed mass map to that predicted from the galaxy distribution reveals the existence of giant voids in the dark matter maps as large as 3 degrees on the sky. Our analysis shows that lensing mass maps can be used for new techniques such as peak statistics and the morphological analysis of the projected dark matter distribution.
We use weak gravitational lensing to analyse the dark matter halos around satellite galaxies in galaxy groups in the CFHTLenS dataset. This dataset is derived from the CFHTLS-Wide survey, and encompasses 154 sq. deg of high-quality shape data. Using
the photometric redshifts, we divide the sample of lens galaxies with stellar masses in the range 10^9 Msun to 10^10.5 Msun into those likely to lie in high-density environments (HDE) and those likely to lie in low-density environments (LDE). Through comparison with galaxy catalogues extracted from the Millennium Simulation, we show that the sample of HDE galaxies should primarily (~61%) consist of satellite galaxies in groups, while the sample of LDE galaxies should consist of mostly (~87%) non-satellite (field and central) galaxies. Comparing the lensing signals around samples of HDE and LDE galaxies matched in stellar mass, the lensing signal around HDE galaxies clearly shows a positive contribution from their host groups on their lensing signals at radii of ~500--1000 kpc, the typical separation between satellites and group centres. More importantly, the subhalos of HDE galaxies are less massive than those around LDE galaxies by a factor 0.65 +/- 0.12, significant at the 2.9 sigma level. A natural explanation is that the halos of satellite galaxies are stripped through tidal effects in the group environment. Our results are consistent with a typical tidal truncation radius of ~40 kpc.
Evolution in the mass function of galaxy clusters sensitively traces both the expansion history of the Universe and cosmological structure formation. Robust cluster mass determinations are a key ingredient for a reliable measurement of this evolution
, especially at high redshift. Weak gravitational lensing is a promising tool for, on average, unbiased mass estimates. This weak lensing project aims at measuring reliable weak lensing masses for a complete X-ray selected sample of 36 high redshift (0.35<z<0.9) clusters. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the robustness of the methodology against commonly encountered problems, including pure instrumental effects, the presence of bright (8--9 mag) stars close to the cluster centre, ground based measurements of high-z (z~0.8) clusters, and the presence of massive unrelated structures along the line-sight. We select a subsample of seven clusters observed with MMT/Megacam. Instrumental effects are checked in detail by cross-comparison with an archival CFHT/MegaCam observation. We derive mass estimates for seven clusters by modelling the tangential shear with an NFW profile, in two cases with multiple components to account for projected structures in the line-of-sight. We firmly detect lensing signals from all seven clusters at more than $3.5sigma$ and determine their masses, ranging from $10^{14} M_{odot}$ to $10^{15} M_{odot}$, despite the presence of nearby bright stars. We retrieve the lensing signal of more than one cluster in the CL 1701+6414 field, while apparently observing CL 1701+6414 through a massive foreground filament. We also find a multi-peaked shear signal in CL 1641+4001. Shear structures measured in the MMT and CFHT images of CL 1701+6414 are highly correlated.
We introduce a novel method to measure the masses of galaxy clusters at high redshift selected from optical and IR Spitzer data via the red-sequence technique. Lyman-break galaxies are used as a well understood, high-redshift background sample allowi
ng mass measurements of lenses at unprecedented high redshifts using weak lensing magnification. By stacking a significant number of clusters at different redshifts with average masses of ~1-3x10^14M_sun, as estimated from their richness, we can calibrate the normalisation of the mass-richness relation. With the current data set (area: 6 deg^2) we detect a magnification signal at the >3-sigma level. There is good agreement between the masses estimated from the richness of the clusters and the average masses estimated from magnification, albeit with large uncertainties. We perform tests that suggest the absence of strong systematic effects and support the robustness of the measurement. This method - when applied to larger data sets in the future - will yield an accurate calibration of the mass-observable relations at z>~1 which will represent an invaluable input for cosmological studies using the galaxy cluster mass function and astrophysical studies of cluster formation. Furthermore this method will probably be the least expensive way to measure masses of large numbers of z>1 clusters detected in future IR-imaging surveys.
The mass function of galaxy clusters at high redshifts is a particularly useful probe to learn about the history of structure formation and constrain cosmological parameters. We aim at deriving reliable masses for a high-redshift, high-luminosity sam
ple of clusters of galaxies selected from the 400d survey of X-ray selected clusters. Here, we will focus on a particular object, CL0030+2618 at z=0.50 Using deep imaging in three passbands with the MEGACAM instrument at MMT, we show that MEGACAM is well-suited for measuring gravitational shear. We detect the weak lensing signal of CL0030+2618 at 5.8 sigma significance, using the aperture mass technique. Furthermore, we find significant tangential alignment of galaxies out to ~10 arcmin or >2r_200 distance from the cluster centre. The weak lensing centre of CL0030+2618 agrees with several X-ray measurements and the position of the brightest cluster galaxy. Finally, we infer a weak lensing virial mass of M_200=7.5 10^{14} M_sun for CL0030+2618. Despite complications by a tentative foreground galaxy group in the line of sight, the X-ray and weak lensing estimates for CL0030+2618 are in remarkable agreement. This study paves the way for the largest weak lensing survey of high-redshift galaxy clusters to date.
