Simulating weak lensing by large scale structure

Abstract

We model weak gravitational lensing of light by large-scale structure using ray tracing through N-body simulations. The method is described with particular attention paid to numerical convergence. We investigate some of the key approximations in the multi-plane ray tracing algorithm. Our simulated shear and convergence maps are used to explore how well standard assumptions about weak lensing hold, especially near large peaks in the lensing signal.