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Testing the lognormality of the galaxy and weak lensing convergence distributions from Dark Energy Survey maps

Author(s): Clerkin, L; Kirk, D; Manera, M; Lahav, O; Abdalla, F; et al

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Abstract: It is well known that the probability distribution function (PDF) of galaxy density contrast is approximately lognormal; whether the PDF of mass fluctuations derived from weak lensing convergence (kappa(WL)) is lognormal is less well established. We derive PDFs of the galaxy and projected matter density distributions via the counts-in-cells (CiC) method. We use maps of galaxies and weak lensing convergence produced from the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data over 139 deg(2). We test whether the underlying density contrast is well described by a lognormal distribution for the galaxies, the convergence and their joint PDF. We confirm that the galaxy density contrast distribution is well modelled by a lognormal PDF convolved with Poisson noise at angular scales from 10 to 40 arcmin (corresponding to physical scales of 3-10 Mpc). We note that as kappa(WL) is a weighted sum of the mass fluctuations along the line of sight, its PDF is expected to be only approximately lognormal. We find that the kappa(WL) distribution is well modelled by a lognormal PDF convolved with Gaussian shape noise at scales between 10 and 20 arcmin, with a best-fitting chi(2)/dof of 1.11 compared to 1.84 for a Gaussian model, corresponding to p-values 0.35 and 0.07, respectively, at a scale of 10 arcmin. Above 20 arcmin a simple Gaussian model is sufficient. The joint PDF is also reasonably fitted by a bivariate lognormal. As a consistency check, we compare the variances derived from the lognormal modelling with those directly measured via CiC. Our methods are validated against maps from the MICE Grand Challenge N-body simulation.
Publication Date: Apr-2017
Electronic Publication Date: 30-Aug-2016
Citation: Clerkin, L, Kirk, D, Manera, M, Lahav, O, Abdalla, F, Amara, A, Bacon, D, Chang, C, Gaztanaga, E, Hawken, A, Jain, B, Joachimi, B, Vikram, V, Abbott, T, Allam, S, Armstrong, R, Benoit-Levy, A, Bernstein, GM, Bernstein, RA, Bertin, E, Brooks, D, Burke, DL, Rosell, A Carnero, Kind, M Carrasco, Crocce, M, Cunha, CE, D Andrea, CB, da Costa, LN, Desai, S, Diehl, HT, Dietrich, JP, Eifler, TF, Evrard, AE, Flaugher, B, Fosalba, P, Frieman, J, Gerdes, DW, Gruen, D, Gruendl, RA, Gutierrez, G, Honscheid, K, James, DJ, Kent, S, Kuehn, K, Kuropatkin, N, Lima, M, Melchior, P, Miquel, R, Nord, B, Plazas, AA, Romer, AK, Roodman, A, Sanchez, E, Schubnell, M, Sevilla-Noarbe, I, Smith, RC, Soares-Santos, M, Sobreira, F, Suchyta, E, Swanson, MEC, Tarle, G, Walker, AR. (2017). Testing the lognormality of the galaxy and weak lensing convergence distributions from Dark Energy Survey maps. MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 466 (1444 - 1461. doi:10.1093/mnras/stw2106
DOI: doi:10.1093/mnras/stw2106
ISSN: 0035-8711
EISSN: 1365-2966
Pages: 1444 - 1461
Type of Material: Journal Article
Journal/Proceeding Title: MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Version: Final published version. Article is made available in OAR by the publisher's permission or policy.



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