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Results of the GREAT08 Challenge: an image analysis competition for cosmological lensing

Bridle, Sarah ; Balan, Sreekumar T. ; Bethge, Matthias ; Gentile, Marc ; Harmeling, Stefan ; Heymans, Catherine ; Hirsch, Michael ; Hosseini, Reshad ; Jarvis, Mike ; Kirk, Donnacha ; Kitching, Thomas ; Kuijken, Konrad ; Lewis, Antony ; Paulin-Henriksson, Stephane ; Schölkopf, Bernhard ; Velander, Malin ; Voigt, Lisa ; Witherick, Dugan ; Amara, Adam ; Bernstein, Gary ; Courbin, Frédéric ; Gill, Mandeep ; Heavens, Alan ; Mandelbaum, Rachel ; Massey, Richard ; Moghaddam, Baback ; Rassat, Anais ; Réfrégier, Alexandre ; Rhodes, Jason ; Schrabback, Tim ; Shawe-Taylor, John ; Shmakova, Marina ; van Waerbeke, Ludovic ; Wittman, David

In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2010, vol. 405, no. 3, p. 2044-2061

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    Title
    • Results of the GREAT08 Challenge: an image analysis competition for cosmological lensing
    Author
    • Bridle, Sarah. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
    • Balan, Sreekumar T.. Cavendish Astrophysics, University of Cambridge, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE
    • Bethge, Matthias. MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Department of Empirical Inference, Spemannstrasse 38, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
    • Gentile, Marc. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
    • Harmeling, Stefan. MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Department of Empirical Inference, Spemannstrasse 38, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
    • Heymans, Catherine. Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ
    • Hirsch, Michael. MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Department of Empirical Inference, Spemannstrasse 38, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
    • Hosseini, Reshad. MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Department of Empirical Inference, Spemannstrasse 38, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
    • Jarvis, Mike. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
    • Kirk, Donnacha. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
    • Kitching, Thomas. Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ
    • Kuijken, Konrad. Leiden Observatory, PO Box 9513, NL-2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands
    • Lewis, Antony. Institute of Astronomy and Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA
    • Paulin-Henriksson, Stephane. Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette, France
    • Schölkopf, Bernhard. MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Department of Empirical Inference, Spemannstrasse 38, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
    • Velander, Malin. Leiden Observatory, PO Box 9513, NL-2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands
    • Voigt, Lisa. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
    • Witherick, Dugan. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
    • Amara, Adam. Department of Physics, ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 16, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
    • Bernstein, Gary. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
    • Courbin, Frédéric. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
    • Gill, Mandeep. Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, 140 W. 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
    • Heavens, Alan. Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ
    • Mandelbaum, Rachel. Institute for Advanced Study, Einstein Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
    • Massey, Richard. Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ
    • Moghaddam, Baback. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 3800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, A 91109, USA
    • Rassat, Anais. Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette, France
    • Réfrégier, Alexandre. Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette, France
    • Rhodes, Jason. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 3800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, A 91109, USA
    • Schrabback, Tim. Leiden Observatory, PO Box 9513, NL-2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands
    • Shawe-Taylor, John. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
    • Shmakova, Marina. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University, PO Box 4349, CA 94309, USA
    • van Waerbeke, Ludovic. University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada
    • Wittman, David. Department of Physics, University of California at Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:298664
    Summary
    We present the results of the Gravitational LEnsing Accuracy Testing 2008 (GREAT08) Challenge, a blind analysis challenge to infer weak gravitational lensing shear distortions from images. The primary goal was to stimulate new ideas by presenting the problem to researchers outside the shear measurement community. Six GREAT08 Team methods were presented at the launch of the Challenge and five additional groups submitted results during the 6-month competition. Participants analyzed 30 million simulated galaxies with a range in signal-to-noise ratio, point spread function ellipticity, galaxy size and galaxy type. The large quantity of simulations allowed shear measurement methods to be assessed at a level of accuracy suitable for currently planned future cosmic shear observations for the first time. Different methods perform well in different parts of simulation parameter space and come close to the target level of accuracy in several of these. A number of fresh ideas have emerged as a result of the Challenge including a re-examination of the process of combining information from different galaxies, which reduces the dependence on realistic galaxy modelling. The image simulations will become increasingly sophisticated in future GREAT Challenges, meanwhile the GREAT08 simulations remain as a benchmark for additional developments in shear measurement algorithms