A Comparative Study of Halo Mass Estimates from Group Catalogs and Lensing Signals

TL;DR

This study compares galaxy group halo mass estimates from different catalogs with gravitational lensing measurements, highlighting the accuracy of redMaPPer and the importance of calibration and group definitions.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of halo mass estimates from multiple group catalogs against lensing data, emphasizing calibration and methodology differences.

Findings

redMaPPer shows the best agreement with lensing masses

Yang21 underestimates low mass groups and overestimates some groups with different centers

Redshift-dependent calibration improves mass estimation accuracy

Abstract

We compare halo mass estimates from three galaxy group catalogs (redMaPPer, Yang21, and Zou21) with those derived from gravitational lensing measurements. Each catalog employs distinct methodologies, including mass-richness relations, abundance matching, and luminosity-based calibration. A linear correlation is observed between catalog-estimated and lensing-derived masses. The redMaPPer catalog shows the best agreement, especially for lower-redshift groups, with minor deviations in higher-redshift bins. Yang21 is the only catalog containing low mass groups, which gives a reasonably good mass estimation, except for the lowest mass bin. Cross-matched groups between redMaPPer and Yang21 reveal the former catalog provides more accurate mass estimation, while the Yang21 makes under-estimation of halo mass for those sharing the central galaxy with redMaPPer and over-estimation of halo mass for those with different center determination with redMaPPer and for the unique Yang21 groups. These findings emphasize the importance of redshift-dependent calibration and refined group definitions for accurate mass estimation.