Schedule Mar 15, 2011
From Monsters to Monstropolis: Gravitational Lensing Sees the Invisible in a Sample of Galaxy Clusters
Marusa Bradac (UC Davis)

Clusters can be used to probe the spatial distribution of dark matter and its interplay with the baryonic mass component, thereby allowing us to effectively study cluster formation and evolution. Gravitational lensing plays a unique role in this endavour. Due to its ability to accurately measure mass distribution irrespectively of the dynamical state, we can study dark matter distribution in great detail. In this talk I will present an improved method for measuring clusters masses, and in particular the mass distributions in the very center of the clusters. I will present preliminary results for a handful of clusters and lay out plans on using the data available in the near future to use 25 clusters to measure dark matter properties as well as constraining the effect of baryons on dark matter profiles.

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