CLASH-VLT - The Largest Spectroscopic Survey of Massive Galaxy Clusters to Date: a new reference dataset for cosmology, galaxy evolution, and structure formation

我们建议利用迄今为止最大的大规模星系透镜团的多波长数据集，以使我们对宇宙的理解向前迈出重要一步，解决基本问题，例如：宇宙的基本组成部分的性质是什么，大尺度结构是如何形成和演变的，以及宇宙是如何富含金属的？前所未有的数据质量和数量，强透镜和弱透镜分析以及从星系团质量分布图中减去重子分量的最新技术相结合，以及即将使用的新一代仪器（即在VLT和阿尔马），将使我们能够：1）首次获得确定的暗物质质量分布，为NFW预测暗物质质量分布形状的普遍性提供了第一个有意义的测试; 2）提供精确的质量校准，这是精确宇宙学的基础; 3）获得对负责星团内介质金属富集的物理机制的观测约束; 4）获得对早期宇宙中星星形成的固体约束，可能探索尚未探索的再电离时代。

We propose to exploit the largest multi-wavelength dataset of massive lensing clusters of galaxies to date, to obtain a major step forward in our understanding of the Universe, addressing fundamental questions such as: what is the nature of the fundamental constituents of the Universe, how did the large scale structure form and evolve, and how was the Universe enriched with metals? The unprecedented quality and quantity of data, the combination of state-of-the-art techniques for strong and weak lensing analysis and for the subtraction of the baryonic component from mass profiles of galaxy clusters, and the use of the upcoming new generation of instruments (i.e. at VLT and ALMA), will enable us: 1) to derive for the first time definitive dark matter mass profiles, providing the first meaningful test of the NFW prediction of universality of dark matter mass profile shapes; 2) to provide accurate mass calibration, fundamental for precision cosmology; 3) to obtain observational constraints on the physical mechanisms responsible for the metal enrichment of the intra-cluster medium; 4) to obtain solid constraints on star formation in the early Universe, possibly probing the still unexplored epoch of reionization.