Simulating Weak Lensing by Large Scale Structure

We model weak gravitational lensing of light by large-scale structure using ray tracing through N-body simulations. The method is described with particular attention paid to numerical convergence. We investigate some of the key approximations in the multi-plane ray tracing algorithm. Our simulated shear and convergence maps are used to explore how well standard assumptions about weak lensing hold, especially near large peaks in the lensing signal. Subject headings: weak lensing, cosmology-theory