Rachel Mandelbaum
Princeton University
Insights into Galaxy Formation and Cosmology from Weak Lensing
Gravitational lensing is a convenient tool for observing the total
matter content of the universe, including dark matter. Given the claim of
modern cosmology that the majority of the matter in the universe is dark,
lensing will be a critical part of future observational and theoretical
efforts in cosmology. I will begin with an introduction to statistical weak
lensing observations, including the role they currently play in galaxy
formation and cosmology research, and what they may eventually contribute in
the future. Then, I will describe an application of lensing combined with
other probes of large-scale structure that may be used to constrain
cosmological model parameters, while also learning about the galaxy
population used for the study. This application is useful already in
existing large surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and
should also play an important role in planned future surveys such as the
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).