20,508 research outputs found
Pixelated Lenses and H_0 from Time-delay QSOs
Observed time delays between images of a lensed QSO lead to the determination
of the Hubble constant by Refsdal's method, provided the mass distribution in
the lensing galaxy is reasonably well known. Since the two or four QSO images
usually observed are woefully inadequate by themselves to provide a unique
reconstruction of the galaxy mass, most previous reconstructions have been
limited to simple parameterized models, which may lead to large systematic
errors in the derived H_0 by failing to consider enough possibilities for the
mass distribution of the lens. We use non-parametric modeling of galaxy lenses
to better explore physically plausible but not overly constrained galaxy mass
maps, all of which reproduce the lensing observables exactly, and derive the
corresponding distribution of H_0's. Blind tests - where one of us simulated
galaxy lenses, lensing observables, and a value for H_0, and the other applied
our modeling technique to estimate H_0 indicate that our procedure is reliable.
For four simulated lensed QSOs the distribution of inferred H_0 have an
uncertainty of \simeq 10% at 90% confidence. Application to published
observations of the two best constrained time-delay lenses, PG1115+080 and
B1608+656, yields H_0=61 +/- 11 km/s/Mpc at 68% confidence and 61 +/- 18
km/s/Mpc at 90% confidence.Comment: 27 pages, including 17 figs, LaTeX; accepted to A
Laser heterodyne system for obtaining height profiles of minor species in the atmosphere
An infrared laser heterodyne system for obtaining height profiles of minor constituents of the atmosphere was developed and erected. A brief discription of the system is given. The system consists of a tunable CO2 waveguide laser in the 9 to 11 micrometer band, that is used as a local oscillator and a heliostat that follows the sun and brings in solar radiation, that is mixed with the laser beam in a high speed liquid nitrogen cooled mercury cadmium telluride detector. The detected signal is analysed in a RF spectrum analyser that allows tracing absorption line profiles. Absorption lines of a number of minor constituents in the troposphere and stratosphere, such as O3, NH3, H2O, SO2, ClO, N2O, are in the 9 to 11 micrometer band and overlap with that of CO2 laser range. The experimental system has been made operational and trial observations taken. Current measurements are limited to ozone height profiles. Results are presented
Qualitative Theory for Lensed QSOs
We show that some characteristics of multiply-imaged QSO systems are very
model-independent and can be deduced accurately by simply scrutinizing the
relative positions of images and galaxy-lens center. These include the
time-ordering of the images, the orientation of the lens potential, and the
rough morphology of any ring. Other features can differ considerably between
specific models; H_0 is an example. Surprisingly, properties inherited from a
circularly symmetric lens system are model-dependent, whereas features that
arise from the breaking of circular symmetry are model-independent. We first
develop these results from some abstract geometrical ideas, then illustrate
them for some well-known systems (the quads Q2237+030, H1413+117,
HST14113+5211, PG1115+080, MG0414+0534, B1608+656, B1422+231, and RXJ0911+0551,
and the ten-image system B1933+507), and finally remark on two systems
(B1359+154 and PMN J0134-0931) where the lens properties are more complex. We
also introduce a Java applet which produces simple lens systems, and helps
further illustrate the concepts.Comment: 26 pages, incl. 15 figs; accepted to AJ; java applet available at
http://ankh-morpork.maths.qmw.ac.uk/~saha/astron/lens
Optical properties of random alloys : Application to Cu_{50}Au_{50} and Ni_{50}Pt_{50}
In an earlier paper [K. K. Saha and A. Mookerjee, Phys. Rev. B 70 (2004) (in
press) or, cond-mat/0403456] we had presented a formulation for the calculation
of the configuration-averaged optical conductivity in random alloys. Our
formulation is based on the augmented-space theorem introduced by one of us [A.
Mookerjee, J. Phys. C: Solid State Phys. 6, 1340 (1973)]. In this communication
we shall combine our formulation with the tight-binding linear muffin-tin
orbitals (TB-LMTO) technique to study the optical conductivities of two alloys
Cu_{50}Au_{50} and Ni_{50}Pt_{50}.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure
Non-parametric Reconstruction of Cluster Mass Distribution from Strong Lensing: Modelling Abell 370
We describe a new non-parametric technique for reconstructing the mass
distribution in galaxy clusters with strong lensing, i.e., from multiple images
of background galaxies. The observed positions and redshifts of the images are
considered as rigid constraints and through the lens (ray-trace) equation they
provide us with linear constraint equations. These constraints confine the mass
distribution to some allowed region, which is then found by linear programming.
Within this allowed region we study in detail the mass distribution with
minimum mass-to-light variation; also some others, such as the smoothest mass
distribution. The method is applied to the extensively studied cluster Abell
370, which hosts a giant luminous arc and several other multiply imaged
background galaxies. Our mass maps are constrained by the observed positions
and redshifts (spectroscopic or model-inferred by previous authors) of the
giant arc and multiple image systems. The reconstructed maps obtained for \a370
reveal a detailed mass distribution, with substructure quite different from the
light distribution. The method predicts the bimodal nature of the cluster and
that the projected mass distribution is indeed elongated along the axis defined
by the two dominant cD galaxies. But the peaks in the mass distribution appear
to be offset from the centres of the cDs. We also present an estimate for the
total mass of the central region of the cluster. This is in good agreement with
previous mass determinations. The total mass of the central region is
M=(2.0-2.7) 10^14 Msun/h50, depending on the solution chosen.Comment: 14 pages(19 postscript figures), minor corrections, MNRAS in pres
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