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S. Wang (Columbia, Brookhaven), J. Kehayias (Columbia), J. Khoury (MIT), Z. Haiman (Columbia), M. May (Brookhaven)
LSST can identify over a hundred thousand galaxy clusters from weak lensing shear maps. This cluster sample will have statistically well-controlled mass estimates, and can place precise and robust constraints on cosmological parameters. We use a Fisher matrix approach to forecast the level of these constraints. We utilize cosmological N-body simulations to include the mass-shear relation, including its scatter and false projections, in our mock selection procedure. We find that by combining measurements of the evolution of cluster abundance, {\rm d}N/{\rm d}z, and the spatial power spectrum, P(k), degeneracies among cosmological parameters, and also between cosmological parameters and systematic errors in the analysis, can be broken, yielding percent-level constraints on individual parameters. We focus on the evolution of the dark energy equation of state, {\rm d}w/{\rm d}z, and on a measurement of the neutrino mass. Combining the cluster data with CMB anisotropy measurements by Planck results in tighter constraints than possible from either experiment alone. The LSST cluster constraints are also complementary to those from LSST shear tomography and from SN studies.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #4
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.