Lensing Magnification and QSO-Galaxy Cross-Correlations: Observations, Theory and Simulations

Abstract

We review observations and gravitational lensing theory related to the magnification of background QSOs by intervening overdensities, and the induced cross-correlation between sources and foreground galaxies. We pay special attention to simulations, and present some preliminary results from high resolution cluster simulations, which show the role of the halo core and substructure on non-linear magnification. For massive clusters, deviations from the weak gravitational lensing regime are significant on arcmin scales and bellow. The accumulated knowledge in the field already shows that gravitational lensing magnification is an important astrophysical and cosmological tool.