CFHTLenS: mapping the large-scale structure with gravitational lensing

Using a series of numerical simulations, we first show how, reproducing the CFHTLenS observing conditions, gravitational lensing inversion provides a reliable estimate of the projected matter distribution of large-scale structure. We validate our analysis by quantifying the robustness of the maps with various statistical estimators. We then apply the same process to the CFHTLenS data. We find that the two-point correlation function of the projected mass is consistent with the cosmological analysis performed on the shear correlation function discussed in the CFHTLenS companion papers. The maps also lead to a significant measurement of the third-order moment of the projected mass, which is in agreement with analytic predictions, and to a marginal detection of the fourth-order moment. Tests for residual systematics are found to be consistent with zero for the statistical estimators we used. A new approach for the comparison of the reconstructed mass map to that predicted from the galaxy distribution reveals the existence of giant voids in the dark matter maps as large as 3 degrees on the sky. Our analysis shows that lensing mass maps are not only consistent with the results obtained by the traditional shear approach, but they also appear promising for new techniques such as peak statistics and the morphological analysis of the projected dark matter distribution.