ASPCS
 
Back to Volume
Paper: Statistical Challenges of Weak Gravitational Lensing
Volume: 371, Statistical Challenges in Modern Astronomy IV
Page: 59
Authors: Bernstein, G.
Abstract: Weak gravitational lensing is the detection of subtle distortion (shear) of background images due to the gradients of the gravitational-lensing deflection by the mass of foreground objects. It is a signal that is very straightforward to predict once a model for the mass distribution of the Universe is available, and promises to offer determination of cosmological parameters to very high accuracy in the coming decade. When surveys of > 109 background galaxies are completed, the statistical challenges that must be faced include: (1) measuring the lensing distortion to parts per thousand accuracy when the intrinsic shapes of galaxies are irregular, and are viewed through distorting optics/atmosphere, noise, and finite sampling; and (2) extracting the most information from the 3-dimensional shear field, given that the intervening mass distribution is a highly non-Gaussian field.
Back to Volume