Cosmic shear and the intrinsic alignment of galaxies [Elektronische Ressource] / vorgelegt von Benjamin Joachimi

CosmicShearandtheIntrinsicAlignmentofGalaxiesDissertationzurErlangung des Doktorgrades (Dr. rer. nat.)derMathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakulta¨tderRheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universita¨t Bonnvorgelegt vonBenjamin JoachimiausRheineBonn, 2010iiAngefertigtmitGenehmigungderMathematisch-NaturwissenschaftlichenFakulta¨tder Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universita¨t Bonn1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Peter Schneider2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Andreas EckartTag der Promotion: 04. November 2010Erscheinungsjahr: 2010iiiTo strive,To seek,To find,And not to yield.Lord Alfred Tennyson, UlyssesivAbstractCosmology has recently entered an era of increasingly rich observational data sets, all beingin agreement with a cosmological standard model that features only a small number of freeparameters. One of the most powerful techniques to constrain these parameters and test theaccuracy of the concordance model is the weak gravitational lensing of distant galaxies by thelarge-scale structure, or cosmic shear. This thesis investigates the optimisation of present andfuturecosmicshearsurveyswithrespecttotheextractionofcosmologicalinformationanddealswith the characterisation and control of the intrinsic alignment of galaxies, a major systematicin cosmic shear data.