KiDS-450: Cosmological parameter constraints from tomographic weak gravitational lensing

TL;DR

This paper presents cosmological constraints from a tomographic weak lensing analysis of 450 square degrees from the KiDS survey, finding results consistent with other low-redshift probes but in tension with Planck 2015 CMB results.

Contribution

It introduces an improved shear measurement method, a robust redshift calibration, and a comprehensive analysis accounting for systematic uncertainties in weak lensing cosmology.

Findings

Measured $S_8=0.745\u00b10.039$, consistent with other low-redshift probes.

Found a 2.3-sigma tension with Planck 2015 results.

Provided high-quality data products for the community.

Abstract

We present cosmological parameter constraints from a tomographic weak gravitational lensing analysis of ~450deg$^2$ of imaging data from the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS). For a flat $\Lambda$CDM cosmology with a prior on $H_0$ that encompasses the most recent direct measurements, we find $S_8\equiv\sigma_8\sqrt{\Omega_{\rm m}/0.3}=0.745\pm0.039$. This result is in good agreement with other low redshift probes of large scale structure, including recent cosmic shear results, along with pre-Planck cosmic microwave background constraints. A $2.3$-$\sigma$ tension in $S_8$ and `substantial discordance' in the full parameter space is found with respect to the Planck 2015 results. We use shear measurements for nearly 15 million galaxies, determined with a new improved `self-calibrating' version of $lens$fit validated using an extensive suite of image simulations. Four-band $ugri$ photometric redshifts are calibrated directly with deep spectroscopic surveys. The redshift calibration is confirmed using two independent techniques based on angular cross-correlations and the properties of the photometric redshift probability distributions. Our covariance matrix is determined using an analytical approach, verified numerically with large mock galaxy catalogues. We account for uncertainties in the modelling of intrinsic galaxy alignments and the impact of baryon feedback on the shape of the non-linear matter power spectrum, in addition to the small residual uncertainties in the shear and redshift calibration. The cosmology analysis was performed blind. Our high-level data products, including shear correlation functions, covariance matrices, redshift distributions, and Monte Carlo Markov Chains are available at http://kids.strw.leidenuniv.nl.