We present a finely-binned tomographic weak lensing analysis of the Canada-FranceHawaii Telescope Lensing Survey, CFHTLenS, mitigating contamination to the signal from the presence of intrinsic galaxy alignments via the simultaneous fit of a cosmological model and an intrinsic alignment model. CFHTLenS spans 154 square degrees in five optical bands, with accurate shear and photometric redshifts for a galaxy sample with a median redshift of z m = 0.70. We estimate the 21 sets of cosmic shear correlation functions associated with six redshift bins, each spanning the angular range of 1.5 < θ < 35 arcmin. We combine this CFHTLenS data with auxiliary cosmological probes: the cosmic microwave background with data from WMAP7, baryon acoustic oscillations with data from BOSS, and a prior on the Hubble constant from the HST distance ladder. This leads to constraints on the normalisation of the matter power spectrum σ 8 = 0.799 ± 0.015 and the matter density parameter Ω m = 0.271 ± 0.010 for a flat ΛCDM cosmology. For a flat wCDM cosmology we constrain the dark energy equation of state parameter w = −1.02 ± 0.09. We also provide constraints for curved ΛCDM and wCDM cosmologies. We find the intrinsic alignment contamination to be galaxy-type dependent with a significant intrinsic alignment signal found for early-type galaxies, in contrast to the late-type galaxy sample for which the intrinsic alignment signal is found to be consistent with zero.
A likelihood-based method for measuring weak gravitational lensing shear in deep galaxy surveys is described and applied to the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS). CFHTLenS comprises 154 deg 2 of multicolour optical data from the CFHT Legacy Survey, with lensing measurements being made in the i ′ band to a depth i ′ AB < 24.7, for galaxies with signal-to-noise ratio ν SN 10. The method is based on the lensfit algorithm described in earlier papers, but here we describe a full analysis pipeline that takes into account the properties of real surveys. The method creates pixel-based models of the varying point spread function (PSF) in individual image exposures. It fits PSF-convolved twocomponent (disk plus bulge) models, to measure the ellipticity of each galaxy, with bayesian marginalisation over model nuisance parameters of galaxy position, size, brightness and bulge fraction. The method allows optimal joint measurement of multiple, dithered image exposures, taking into account imaging distortion and the alignment of the multiple measurements. We discuss the effects of noise bias on the likelihood distribution of galaxy ellipticity. Two sets of image simulations that mirror the observed properties of CFHTLenS have been created, to establish the method's accuracy and to derive an empirical correction for the effects of noise bias.
We present the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) that accurately determines a weak gravitational lensing signal from the full 154 deg2 of deep multicolour data obtained by the CFHT Legacy Survey. Weak gravitational lensing by large‐scale structure is widely recognized as one of the most powerful but technically challenging probes of cosmology. We outline the CFHTLenS analysis pipeline, describing how and why every step of the chain from the raw pixel data to the lensing shear and photometric redshift measurement has been revised and improved compared to previous analyses of a subset of the same data. We present a novel method to identify data which contributes a non‐negligible contamination to our sample and quantify the required level of calibration for the survey. Through a series of cosmology‐insensitive tests we demonstrate the robustness of the resulting cosmic shear signal, presenting a science‐ready shear and photometric redshift catalogue for future exploitation.
We present cosmological constraints from 2D weak gravitational lensing by the largescale structure in the Canada-France Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) which spans 154 square degrees in five optical bands. Using accurate photometric redshifts and measured shapes for 4.2 million galaxies between redshifts of 0.2 and 1.3, we compute the 2D cosmic shear correlation function over angular scales ranging between 0.8 and 350 arcmin. Using non-linear models of the dark-matter power spectrum, we constrain cosmological parameters by exploring the parameter space with Population Monte Carlo sampling. The best constraints from lensing alone are obtained for the small-scale density-fluctuations amplitude σ 8 scaled with the total matter density Ω m . For a flat ΛCDM model we obtain σ 8 (Ω m /0.27) 0.6 = 0.79 ± 0.03.We combine the CFHTLenS data with WMAP7, BOSS and an HST distance-ladder prior on the Hubble constant to get joint constraints. For a flat ΛCDM model, we find Ω m = 0.283 ± 0.010 and σ 8 = 0.813 ± 0.014. In the case of a curved wCDM universe, we obtain Ω m = 0.27 ± 0.03, σ 8 = 0.83 ± 0.04, w 0 = −1.10 ± 0.15 and Ω K = 0.006 +0.006 −0.004 . We calculate the Bayesian evidence to compare flat and curved ΛCDM and dark-energy CDM models. From the combination of all four probes, we find models with curvature to be at moderately disfavoured with respect to the flat case. A simple dark-energy model is indistinguishable from ΛCDM. Our results therefore do not necessitate any deviations from the standard cosmological model.
We present data products from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS). CFHTLenS is based on the Wide component of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS). It encompasses 154 deg 2 of deep, optical, high-quality, sub-arcsecond imaging data in the five optical filters u * g r i z . The scientific aims of the CFHTLenS team are weak gravitational lensing studies supported by photometric redshift estimates for the galaxies. The article presents our data processing of the complete CFHTLenS data set. We were able to obtain a data set with very good image quality and high-quality astrometric and photometric calibration. Our external astrometric accuracy is between 60-70 mas with respect to SDSS data and the internal alignment in all filters is around 30 mas. Our average photometric calibration shows a dispersion on the order of 0.01 to 0.03 mag for g r i z and about 0.04 mag for u * with respect to SDSS sources down to i SDSS 21. We demonstrate in accompanying articles that our data meet necessary requirements to fully exploit the survey for weak gravitational lensing analyses in connection with photometric redshift studies. In the spirit of the CFHTLS all our data products are released to the astronomical community via the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre at http://www.cadc-ccda.hia-iha. nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/community/CFHTLens/query.html. We give a description and how-to manuals of the public products which include image pixel data, source catalogues with photometric redshift estimates and all relevant quantities to perform weak lensing studies.
Here we present the results of various approaches to measure accurate colours and photometric redshifts (photo‐z) from wide‐field imaging data. We use data from the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey which have been re‐processed by the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) team in order to carry out a number of weak gravitational lensing studies. An emphasis is put on the correction of systematic effects in the photo‐z arising from the different point spread functions (PSFs) in the five optical bands. Different ways of correcting these effects are discussed and the resulting photo‐z accuracies are quantified by comparing the photo‐z to large spectroscopic redshift (spec‐z) data sets. Careful homogenization of the PSF between bands leads to increased overall accuracy of photo‐z. The gain is particularly pronounced at fainter magnitudes where galaxies are smaller and flux measurements are affected more by PSF effects. We discuss ways of defining more secure subsamples of galaxies as well as a shape‐ and colour‐based star–galaxy separation method, and we present redshift distributions for different magnitude limits. We also study possible re‐calibrations of the photometric zero‐points (ZPs) with the help of galaxies with known spec‐z. We find that if PSF effects are properly taken into account, a re‐calibration of the ZPs becomes much less important suggesting that previous such re‐calibrations described in the literature could in fact be mostly corrections for PSF effects rather than corrections for real inaccuracies in the ZPs. The implications of this finding for future surveys like the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS), Dark Energy Survey (DES), Large Synoptic Survey Telescope or Euclid are mixed. On the one hand, ZP re‐calibrations with spec‐z values might not be as accurate as previously thought. On the other hand, careful PSF homogenization might provide a way out and yield accurate, homogeneous photometry without the need for full spectroscopic coverage. This is the first paper in a series describing the technical aspects of CFHTLenS.
GALSIM is a collaborative, open-source project aimed at providing an image simulation tool of enduring benefit to the astronomical community. It provides a software library for generating images of astronomical objects such as stars and galaxies in a variety of ways, efficiently handling image transformations and operations such as convolution and rendering at high precision. We describe the GALSIM software and its capabilities, including necessary theoretical background. We demonstrate that the performance of GALSIM meets the stringent requirements of high precision image analysis applications such as weak gravitational lensing, for current datasets and for the Stage IV dark energy surveys of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, ESA's Euclid mission, and NASA's WFIRST-AFTA mission. The GALSIM project repository is public and includes the full code history, all open and closed issues, installation instructions, documentation, and wiki pages (including a Frequently Asked Questions section). The GALSIM repository can be found at https://github.com/GalSim-developers/GalSim.
We present a study of the relation between dark matter halo mass and the baryonic content of their host galaxies, quantified through galaxy luminosity and stellar mass. Our investigation uses 154 deg 2 of Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) lensing and photometric data, obtained from the CFHT Legacy Survey. To interpret the weak lensing signal around our galaxies we employ a galaxy-galaxy lensing halo model which allows us to constrain the halo mass and the satellite fraction. Our analysis is limited to lenses at redshifts between 0.2 and 0.4, split into a red and a blue sample. We express the relationship between dark matter halo mass and baryonic observable as a power law with pivot points of 10 11 h −2 70 L ⊙ and 2 × 10 11 h −2 70 M ⊙ for luminosity and stellar mass respectively. For the luminosity-halo mass relation we find a slope of 1.32 ± 0.06 and a normalisation of 1.19 +0.06 −0.07 × 10 13 h −1 70 M ⊙ for red galaxies, while for blue galaxies the best-fit slope is 1.09 +0.20 −0.13 and the normalisation is 0.18 +0.04 −0.05 × 10 13 h −1 70 M ⊙ . Similarly, we find a best-fit slope of 1.36 +0.06 −0.07 and a normalisation of 1.43 +0.11 −0.08 × 10 13 h −1 70 M ⊙ for the stellar mass-halo mass relation of red galaxies, while for blue galaxies the corresponding values are 0.98 +0.08 −0.07 and 0.84 +0.20 −0.16 × 10 13 h −1 70 M ⊙ . All numbers convey the 68% confidence limit. For red lenses, the fraction which are satellites inside a larger halo tends to decrease with luminosity and stellar mass, with the sample being nearly all satellites for a stellar mass of 2 × 10 9 h −2 70 M ⊙ . The satellite fractions are generally close to zero for blue lenses, irrespective of luminosity or stellar mass. This, together with the shallower relation between halo mass and baryonic tracer, is a direct confirmation from galaxy-galaxy lensing that blue galaxies reside in less clustered environments than red galaxies. We also find that the halo model, while matching the lensing signal around red lenses well, is prone to over-predicting the large-scale signal for faint and less massive blue lenses. This could be a further indication that these galaxies tend to be more isolated than assumed.
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