2,461 research outputs found

    Cosmic shear results from the deep lens survey - I: Joint constraints on omega_m and sigma_8 with a two-dimensional analysis

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    We present a cosmic shear study from the Deep Lens Survey (DLS), a deep BVRz multi-band imaging survey of five 4 sq. degree fields with two National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) 4-meter telescopes at Kitt Peak and Cerro Tololo. For both telescopes, the change of the point-spread-function (PSF) shape across the focal plane is complicated, and the exposure-to-exposure variation of this position-dependent PSF change is significant. We overcome this challenge by modeling the PSF separately for individual exposures and CCDs with principal component analysis (PCA). We find that stacking these PSFs reproduces the final PSF pattern on the mosaic image with high fidelity, and the method successfully separates PSF-induced systematics from gravitational lensing effects. We calibrate our shears and estimate the errors, utilizing an image simulator, which generates sheared ground-based galaxy images from deep Hubble Space Telescope archival data with a realistic atmospheric turbulence model. For cosmological parameter constraints, we marginalize over shear calibration error, photometric redshift uncertainty, and the Hubble constant. We use cosmology-dependent covariances for the Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis and find that the role of this varying covariance is critical in our parameter estimation. Our current non-tomographic analysis alone constrains the Omega_M-sigma_8 likelihood contour tightly, providing a joint constraint of Omega_M=0.262+-0.051 and sigma_8=0.868+-0.071. We expect that a future DLS weak-lensing tomographic study will further tighten these constraints because explicit treatment of the redshift dependence of cosmic shear more efficiently breaks the Omega_M-sigma_8 degeneracy. Combining the current results with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7-year (WMAP7) likelihood data, we obtain Omega_M=0.278+-0.018 and sigma_8=0.815+-0.020.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. Replaced with the accepted versio

    Cosmic Shear Results from the Deep Lens Survey - II: Full Cosmological Parameter Constraints from Tomography

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    We present a tomographic cosmic shear study from the Deep Lens Survey (DLS), which, providing a limiting magnitude r_{lim}~27 (5 sigma), is designed as a pre-cursor Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) survey with an emphasis on depth. Using five tomographic redshift bins, we study their auto- and cross-correlations to constrain cosmological parameters. We use a luminosity-dependent nonlinear model to account for the astrophysical systematics originating from intrinsic alignments of galaxy shapes. We find that the cosmological leverage of the DLS is among the highest among existing >10 sq. deg cosmic shear surveys. Combining the DLS tomography with the 9-year results of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP9) gives Omega_m=0.293_{-0.014}^{+0.012}, sigma_8=0.833_{-0.018}^{+0.011}, H_0=68.6_{-1.2}^{+1.4} km/s/Mpc, and Omega_b=0.0475+-0.0012 for LCDM, reducing the uncertainties of the WMAP9-only constraints by ~50%. When we do not assume flatness for LCDM, we obtain the curvature constraint Omega_k=-0.010_{-0.015}^{+0.013} from the DLS+WMAP9 combination, which however is not well constrained when WMAP9 is used alone. The dark energy equation of state parameter w is tightly constrained when Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) data are added, yielding w=-1.02_{-0.09}^{+0.10} with the DLS+WMAP9+BAO joint probe. The addition of supernova constraints further tightens the parameter to w=-1.03+-0.03. Our joint constraints are fully consistent with the final Planck results and also the predictions of a LCDM universe.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

    Scaling Relations and Overabundance of Massive Clusters at z>~1 from Weak-Lensing Studies with HST

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    We present weak gravitational lensing analysis of 22 high-redshift (z >~1) clusters based on Hubble Space Telescope images. Most clusters in our sample provide significant lensing signals and are well detected in their reconstructed two-dimensional mass maps. Combining the current results and our previous weak-lensing studies of five other high-z clusters, we compare gravitational lensing masses of these clusters with other observables. We revisit the question whether the presence of the most massive clusters in our sample is in tension with the current LambdaCDM structure formation paradigm. We find that the lensing masses are tightly correlated with the gas temperatures and establish, for the first time, the lensing mass-temperature relation at z >~ 1. For the power law slope of the M-TX relation (M propto T^{\alpha}), we obtain \alpha=1.54 +/- 0.23. This is consistent with the theoretical self-similar prediction \alpha=3/2 and with the results previously reported in the literature for much lower redshift samples. However, our normalization is lower than the previous results by 20-30%, indicating that the normalization in the M-TX relation might evolve. After correcting for Eddington bias and updating the discovery area with a more conservative choice, we find that the existence of the most massive clusters in our sample still provides a tension with the current Lambda CDM model. The combined probability of finding the four most massive clusters in this sample after marginalization over current cosmological parameters is less than 1%.Comment: ApJ in press. See http://www.supernova.lbl.gov for additional information pertaining to the HST Cluster SN Surve

    Rings of Dark Matter in Collisions Between Clusters of Galaxies

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    Several lines of evidence suggest that the galaxy cluster Cl0024+17, an apparently relaxed system, is actually a collision of two clusters, the interaction occurring along our line of sight. Recent lensing observations suggest the presence of a ring-like dark matter structure, which has been interpreted as the result of such a collision. In this paper we present NN-body simulations of cluster collisions along the line of sight to investigate the detectability of such features. We use realistic dark matter density profiles as determined from cosmological simulations. Our simulations show a "shoulder" in the dark matter distribution after the collision, but no ring feature even when the initial particle velocity distribution is highly tangentially anisotropic (σθ/σr>>1\sigma_\theta/\sigma_r >> 1). Only when the initial particle velocity distribution is circular do our simulations show such a feature. Even modestly anisotropic velocity distributions are inconsistent with the halo velocity distributions seen in cosmological simulations, and would require highly fine-tuned initial conditions. Our investigation leaves us without an explanation for the dark matter ring-like feature in Cl 0024+17 suggested by lensing observations.Comment: 7 pages (emulateapj), 9 figures. Expanded figures and text to match accepted versio

    Galaxy-Mass Correlations on 10 Mpc Scales in the Deep Lens Survey

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    We examine the projected correlation of galaxies with mass from small scales (<few hundred kpc) where individual dark matter halos dominate, out to 15 Mpc where correlated large-scale structure dominates. We investigate these profiles as a function of galaxy luminosity and redshift. Selecting 0.8 million galaxies in the Deep Lens Survey, we use photometric redshifts and stacked weak gravitational lensing shear tomography out to radial scales of 1 degree from the centers of foreground galaxies. We detect correlated mass density from multiple halos and large-scale structure at radii larger than the virial radius, and find the first observational evidence for growth in the galaxy-mass correlation on 10 Mpc scales with decreasing redshift and fixed range of luminosity. For a fixed range of redshift, we find a scaling of projected halo mass with rest-frame luminosity similar to previous studies at lower redshift. We control systematic errors in shape measurement and photometric redshift, enforce volume completeness through absolute magnitude cuts, and explore residual sample selection effects via simulations.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, re-submitted to ApJ after addressing referee comment

    HST/Acs Weak-Lensing and Chandra X-Ray Studies of the High-Redshift Cluster MS 1054-0321

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    We present Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) weak-lensing and Chandra X-ray analyses of MS 1054-0321 at z=0.83, the most distant and X-ray luminous cluster in the Einstein Extended Medium-Sensitivity Survey (EMSS). The high-resolution mass reconstruction through ACS weak-lensing reveals the complicated dark matter substructure in unprecedented detail, characterized by the three dominant mass clumps with the four or more minor satellite groups within the current ACS field. The direct comparison of the mass map with the Chandra X-ray image shows that the eastern weak-lensing substructure is not present in the X-ray image and, more interestingly, the two X-ray peaks are displaced away from the hypothesized merging direction with respect to the corresponding central and western mass clumps, possibly because of ram pressure. In addition, as observed in our previous weak-lensing study of another high-redshift cluster CL 0152-1357 at z=0.84, the two dark matter clumps of MS 1054-0321 seem to be offset from the galaxy counterparts. We examine the significance of these offsets and discuss a possible scenario, wherein the dark matter clumps might be moving ahead of the cluster galaxies. The non-parametric weak-lensing mass modeling gives a projected mass of M(r<1 Mpc)=(1.02+-0.15)x 10^{15} solar mass, where the uncertainty reflects both the statistical error and the cosmic shear effects. Our temperature measurement of T=8.9_{-0.8}^{+1.0} keV utilizing the newest available low-energy quantum efficiency degradation prescription for the Chandra instrument, together with the isothermal beta description of the cluster (r_c=16"+-15" and beta=0.78+-0.08), yields a projected mass of M(r<1 Mpc)=(1.2+-0.2) x 10^{15} solar mass, consistent with the weak-lensing result.Comment: Accepted for publication in apj. Full-resolution version can be downloaded from http://acs.pha.jhu.edu/~mkjee/ms1054.pd

    XMMU J100750.5+125818: A strong lensing cluster at z=1.082

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    We report on the discovery of the X-ray luminous cluster XMMU J100750.5+125818 at redshift 1.082 based on 19 spectroscopic members, which displays several strong lensing features. SED modeling of the lensed arc features from multicolor imaging with the VLT and the LBT reveals likely redshifts ~2.7 for the most prominent of the lensed background galaxies. Mass estimates are derived for different radii from the velocity dispersion of the cluster members, M_200 ~ 1.8 10^{14} Msun, from the X-ray spectral parameters, M_500 ~ 1.0 10^{14} Msun, and the largest lensing arc, M_SL ~ 2.3 10^{13} Msun. The projected spatial distribution of cluster galaxies appears to be elongated, and the brightest galaxy lies off center with respect to the X-ray emission indicating a not yet relaxed structure. XMMU J100750.5+125818 offers excellent diagnostics of the inner mass distribution of a distant cluster with a combination of strong and weak lensing, optical and X-ray spectroscopy.Comment: A&A, accepted for publicatio

    Missing Dark Matter in the Local Universe

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    A sample of 11 thousand galaxies with radial velocities V_ LG < 3500 km/s is used to study the features of the local distribution of luminous (stellar) and dark matter within a sphere of radius of around 50 Mpc around us. The average density of matter in this volume, Omega_m,loc=0.08+-0.02, turns out to be much lower than the global cosmic density Omega_m,glob=0.28+-0.03. We discuss three possible explanations of this paradox: 1) galaxy groups and clusters are surrounded by extended dark halos, the major part of the mass of which is located outside their virial radii; 2) the considered local volume of the Universe is not representative, being situated inside a giant void; and 3) the bulk of matter in the Universe is not related to clusters and groups, but is rather distributed between them in the form of massive dark clumps. Some arguments in favor of the latter assumption are presented. Besides the two well-known inconsistencies of modern cosmological models with the observational data: the problem of missing satellites of normal galaxies and the problem of missing baryons, there arises another one - the issue of missing dark matter.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 1 table (accepted

    Clusters at Half Hubble Time: Galaxy Structure and Colors in RXJ0152.7-1357 and MS1054-03

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    We study the photometric and structural properties of spectroscopically confirmed members in the two massive X-ray--selected z=0.83 galaxy clusters MS1054-03 and RXJ0152-1357 using three-band mosaic imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys. The samples include 105 and 140 members of MS1054-03 and RXJ0152-1357, respectively, with ACS F775W magnitude < 24.0. We develop a promising new structural classification method, based on a combination of the best-fit Sersic indices and the normalized root-mean-square residuals from the fits; the resulting classes agree well with the visual ones, but are less affected by galaxy orientation. We examine the color--magnitude relations in detail and find that the color residuals correlate with the local mass density measured from our weak lensing maps; we identify a threshold density of Σ0.1\Sigma \approx 0.1, in units of the critical density, above which the star formation appears to cease. For RXJ0152-1357, we also find a trend in the color residuals with velocity, resulting from an offset of about 980 km/s in the mean redshifts of the early- and late-type galaxies. Analysis of the color--color diagrams indicates that a range of star formation time-scales are needed to reproduce the loci of the galaxy colors. We also identify some cluster galaxies whose colors can only be explained by large amounts, AV1A_V \approx 1 mag, of internal dust extinction. [Abstract shortened]Comment: 30 pages, emulateapj format; 23 figures, many in color. Accepted by ApJ; scheduled for the 10 June 2006 issue. Some figures degraded; for a higher resolution version, see: http://astro.wsu.edu/blakeslee/z1clusters
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