Non-Gaussian information from weak lensing data via deep learning

Weak lensing maps contain information beyond two-point statistics on small scales. Much recent work has tried to extract this information through a range of different observables or via nonlinear transformations of the lensing field. Here we train and apply a 2D convolutional neural network to simulated noiseless lensing maps covering 96 different cosmological models over a range of {Ωm,σ8}. Using the area of the confidence contour in the {Ωm,σ8} plane as a figure-of-merit, derived from simulated convergence maps smoothed on a scale of 1.0 arcmin, we show that the neural network yields ≈5× tighter constraints than the power spectrum, and ≈4× tighter than the lensing peaks. Such gains illustrate the extent to which weak lensing data encode cosmological information not accessible to the power spectrum or even other, non-Gaussian statistics such as lensing peaks.