Re-capturing cosmic information

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method using a logarithmic transform of the nonlinear convergence field to recover additional cosmological information from gravitational lensing data, surpassing limitations of traditional power spectrum analysis.

Contribution

It adapts a log-transform approach to lensing convergence fields, enabling extraction of more cosmological information from small-scale modes.

Findings

Fourier modes of the transformed field are nearly uncorrelated.

The method enhances information retrieval from nonlinear convergence data.

Potential to improve constraints on dark energy parameters.

Abstract

Gravitational lensing of distant galaxies can be exploited to infer the convergence field as a function of angular position on the sky. The statistics of this field, much like that of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), can be studied to extract information about fundamental parameters in cosmology, most notably the dark energy in the Universe. Unlike the CMB, the distribution of matter in the Universe which determines the convergence field is highly non-Gaussian, reflecting the nonlinear processes which accompanied structure formation. Much of the cosmic information contained in the initial field is therefore unavailable to the standard power spectrum measurements. Here we propose a method for re-capturing cosmic information by using the power spectrum of a simple function of the observed (nonlinear) convergence field. We adapt the approach of Neyrinck et al. (2009) to lensing by using a modified logarithmic transform of the convergence field. The Fourier transform of the log-transformed field has modes that are nearly uncorrelated, which allows for additional cosmological information to be extracted from small-scale modes.