Non-spherical BUFFALOs: a weak lensing view of the Frontier Field clusters and associated systematics

TL;DR

This paper uses high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy to measure weak-lensing masses of complex galaxy clusters from the Frontier Fields, analyzing systematic biases especially in disturbed systems, to improve cosmological parameter estimates.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive framework for assessing systematics in weak-lensing mass measurements of unrelaxed galaxy clusters, crucial for future cosmological surveys.

Findings

Systematic biases are largest in disturbed, merging clusters like Abell 2744.

High source density (~50 sources/arcmin²) improves mass measurement robustness.

The framework aids in understanding systematics for upcoming wide-field surveys.

Abstract

Galaxy clusters are tracers of the large scale structures of the Universe, making the time evolution of their mass function dependent on key cosmological parameters, such as the cosmic matter density or the amplitude of density fluctuations $\sigma_8$. Accurate measurements of cluster's total masses are therefore essential, yet they can be challenging, particularly for clusters with complex morphologies, as simple mass profiles are often adopted to fit the measurements. In this work, we focus on the Frontier Fields galaxy clusters: a sample of six extremely massive systems, that, in most cases, exhibit highly complex mass distributions. The BUFFALO survey extended the Hubble Space Telescope observations for the Frontier Fields galaxy clusters, providing high-resolution multi-band imaging within a few Mpc. Combining this high-quality imaging dataset with ancillary spectroscopy, we produce weak-lensing catalogues with very high source densities, about 50 sources/arcmin$^2$. This allows us to robustly estimate the individual weak-lensing cluster masses and quantify the sensitivity of these measurements on different factors, such as the cluster centring, the uncertainty on the redshift distribution or the foreground contamination and boost factor correction. This provides a data-driven analysis of the different sources of systematics that can impact such measurements. We find that the largest sources of systematic bias arise for the most disturbed clusters, such as the multi-modal, merging galaxy cluster Abell 2744. This analysis sets a comprehensive framework for assessing the impact of systematics on the weak-lensing estimates of cluster masses, and in particular, in the case of unrelaxed clusters. This can play a key role in forthcoming cosmological analyses based on wide-field surveys such as Euclid and the Legacy Survey of Space and Time of the Rubin Observatory.