Cosmological Constraints from Weak Lensing Peaks: Can Halo Models Accurately Predict Peak Counts?

2021/09/30 by Alina Sabyr, Zoltán Haiman, José Manuel Zorrilla Matilla +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #COSMIC cancer database #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark matter #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Halo #Halo effect #Line-of-sight #Omega #Physics #Redshift #Weak gravitational lensing #astro-ph.CO

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.105.023505

published as Phys. Rev. D 105, 023505 (2022) · 15 pages, 15 figures, updated to match PRD version

openalex publication_date 2022/01/07 · arxiv created 2022/02/28 · arxiv updated 2022/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

In order to extract full cosmological information from next-generation large and high-precision weak lensing (WL) surveys (e.g. Euclid, Roman, LSST), higher-order statistics that probe the small-scale, non-linear regime of large scale structure (LSS) need to be utilized. WL peak counts, which trace overdensities in the cosmic web, are one promising and simple statistic for constraining cosmological parameters. The physical origin of WL peaks have previously been linked to dark matter halos along the line of sight and this peak-halo connection has been used to develop various semi-analytic halo-based models for predicting peak counts. Here, we study the origin of WL peaks and the effectiveness of halo-based models for WL peak counts using a suite of ray-tracing N-body simulations. We compare WL peaks in convergence maps from the full simulations to those in maps created from only particles associated with halos -- the latter playing the role of a "perfect" halo model. We find that while halo-only contributions are able to replicate peak counts qualitatively well, halos do not explain all WL peaks. Halos particularly underpredict negative peaks, which are associated with local overdensities in large-scale underdense regions along the line of sight. In addition, neglecting non-halo contributions to peaks counts leads to a significant bias on the parameters (Ω_{\rm m}, σ₈) for surveys larger than ≥ 100 deg². We conclude that other elements of the cosmic web, outside and far away from dark matter halos, need to be incorporated into models of WL peaks in order to infer unbiased cosmological constraints.

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