Final Report Summary - LENSMAGPAU (Studying Gravitational Lensing Magnification with PAU and other Surveys)
The project aims to study the large-scale magnification of galaxies and quasars due to gravitational lensing, advancing the technique of magnification measurement for the purpose of investigating dark matter and dark energy. In particular, the project aims to measure the matter distribution of gravitational lenses by studying the correlation between these lenses and sources in their background, and also to develop quasar magnification analyses using variability as a new and useful technique in studying large scale structure. These topics combine aspects of gravitational lensing, large scale structure, and quasar physics research. In order to facilitate this and other work, we are developing and testing a precise photometric calibration of the Physics of the Accelerating Universe (PAU) survey, a Spanish collaboration set to start taking data in 2014. The survey is designed for the optimal ground-based measurement of three-dimensional galaxy correlations, which will allow for precise measurements of the galaxy-mass and galaxy-galaxy correlation functions. These results will place valuable constraints on cosmological parameters describing the behavior of dark matter and dark energy.