2010/10/31 by Laura Marian, Stefan Hilbert, Robert E. Smith +2 · 45 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #COSMIC cancer database #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Function (biology) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Gaussian #Gravitational lens #Lens (geology) #Measure (data warehouse) #Trispectrum #Weak gravitational lensing #astro-ph.CO #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/728/1/l13
published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters 728(1), L13 (IOP Publishing) · 4 pages, 1 figure
openalex publication_date 2011/01/19 · arxiv created 2012/04/18 · arxiv updated 2012/04/19 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We explore the possibility of detecting primordial non-Gaussianity of the local type using weak-lensing peak counts. We measure the peak abundance in sets of simulated weak-lensing maps corresponding to three models f NL = 0, − 100, and 100. Using survey specifications similar to those of euclid and without assuming any knowledge of the lens and source redshifts, we find the peak functions of the non-Gaussian models with f NL = ±100 to differ by up to 15% from the Gaussian peak function at the high-mass end. For the assumed survey parameters, the probability of fitting an f NL = 0 peak function to the f NL = ±100 peak functions is less than 0.1%. Assuming the other cosmological parameters are known, f NL can be measured with an error Δ f NL ≈ 13. It is therefore possible that future weak-lensing surveys like euclid and lsst may detect primordial non-Gaussianity from the abundance of peak counts, and provide information complementary to that obtained from the cosmic microwave background.