Constraints on neutrino masses from weak lensing

Abstract

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 measurements of WL correlations, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey 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, such as the WMAP 5-year data (WMAP5) and the distance measurements of type-Ia supernovae (SNe) and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). The upper bounds on the sum of neutrino masses are $\ensuremath{\sum}_{}^{}{m}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}=1.1$, 0.76, and 0.54 eV (95% CL) for $\mathrm{WL}+\mathrm{WMAP}5$, $\mathrm{WMAP}5+\mathrm{SNe}+\mathrm{BAO}$, and $\mathrm{WL}+\mathrm{WMAP}5+\mathrm{SNe}+\mathrm{BAO}$, respectively, assuming a flat $\ensuremath{\Lambda}\mathrm{CDM}$ model with finite-mass neutrinos. In deriving these constraints, our analysis includes the non-Gaussian covariances of the WL correlation functions to properly take into account significant correlations between different angles.