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质量透镜状星系团的多波长数据集，在我们对宇宙的理解方面取得重大进展，解决诸如：宇宙基本组成部分的本质是什么，大尺度结构是如何形成和演化的，以及宇宙是如何富含金属的？前所未有的数据质量和数量，强弱透镜分析和从星系团质量轮廓中减去重子分量的最先进技术的结合，以及即将到来的新一代仪器(即VLT和ALMA)的使用，将使我们能够：1)首次得出明确的暗物质质量轮廓，为NFW预测暗物质质量轮廓形状的普遍性提供第一个有意义的测试；2)提供精确的质量校准，这是精密宇宙学的基础；3)获得对负责星系团内介质金属丰化的物理机制的观测约束；4)获得对早期宇宙恒星形成的固体约束，可能探索仍然未被探索的再电离时代。

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.