Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1994-06-17
Astrophys.J. 438 (1995) 49
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
ApJ in press. 23 pages of LaTeX plus figs. Text & figs available by anonymous ftp from resun03.roe.ac.uk in directory /pub/jap
Scientific paper
10.1086/175053
We present a new method for measuring the projected mass distributions of galaxy clusters. The gravitational amplification is measured by comparing the joint distribution in redshift and magnitude of galaxies behind the cluster with that of field galaxies. We show that the total amplification is directly related to the surface mass density in the weak field limit, and so it is possible to map the mass distribution of the cluster. The method is shown to be limited by discreteness noise and galaxy clustering behind the lens. Galaxy clustering sets a lower limit to the error along the redshift direction, but a clustering independent lensing signature may be obtained from the magnitude distribution at fixed redshift. Statistical techniques are developed for estimating the surface mass density of the cluster. We extend these methods to account for any obscuration by cluster halo dust, which may be mapped independently of the dark matter. We apply the method to a series of numerical simulations and show the feasibility of the approach. We consider approximate redshift information, and show how the mass estimates are degraded.
Broadhurst Thomas James
Peacock John A.
Taylor Andy N.
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