Probing the cosm ic web:inter-clusterlam ent detection using gravitationallensing

A B ST R A C T Theproblem ofdetectingdark m atterlam entsin thecosm icweb isconsidered.W eak lensing isan idealprobeofdark m atter,and thereforeform sthebasisofparticularly prom ising detection m ethods.W e consider and develop a num ber ofweak lensing techniques that could be used to detectlam ents in individualor stacked cluster �elds,and apply them to synthetic lensing data sets in theelds ofclusters from theM illennium Sim ulation.Thesetechniquesarem ultipolem om entsoftheshearand convergence,m ass reconstruction,and param eterizedts tolam ent m ass proles usingaM arkovChainM onteCarloapproach.Inparticular,twonewlam entdetection techniquesareexplored (m ultipoleshearltersand M arkov Chain M onteCarlo m ass prolets),and we outline the quality ofdata required to be able to identify and quantifylam ent proles.W e also consider the eects of large scale structure on �lam ent detection.W e conclude that using these techniques,there willbe realistic prospectsofdetectinglam entsindatafrom futurespace-basedm issions.Them ethods presentedin thispaperwillbeofgreatusein theidenticationofdarkm atterlam ents in futuresurveys. K ey w ords: cosm ology:observations-cosm ology:theory -galaxies:clusters:general- galaxies:photom etry -gravitationallensing