Constraints on Neutrino Masses from Weak Lensing

Understand

The weak lensing (WL) distortions of distant galaxy images are sensitive to neutrino masses by probing the suppression effect on clustering strengths of total matter in large-scale structure.

• We use the latest measurement of WL correlations, the CFHTLS data, to explore constraints on neutrino masses.
• We find that, while the WL data alone cannot place a stringent limit on neutrino masses due to parameter degeneracies, the constraint can be significantly improved when combined with other cosmological probes, the WMAP 5-year (WMAP5) data and the distance measurements of type-Ia supernovae (SNe) and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO).
• The upper bounds on the sum of neutrino masses are m_tot = 1.1, 0.76 and 0.54 eV (95% CL) for WL+WMAP5, WMAP5+SNe+BAO, and WL+WMAP5+SNe+BAO, respectively, assuming a flat LCDM model with finite-mass neutrinos.