1,514 research outputs found
The Baryon Fractions and Mass-to-Light Ratios of Early-Type Galaxies
We jointly model 22 early-type gravitational lens galaxies with stellar
dynamical measurements using standard CDM halo models. The sample is
inhomogeneous in both its mass distributions and the evolution of its stellar
populations unless the true uncertainties are significantly larger than the
reported measurement errors. In general, the individual systems cannot
constrain halo models, in the sense that the data poorly constrains the stellar
mass fraction of the halo. The ensemble of systems, however, strongly
constrains the average stellar mass represented by the visible galaxies to
of the halo mass if we neglect adiabatic compression, rising to
of the halo mass if we include adiabatic compression. Both
estimates are significantly smaller than the global baryon fraction,
corresponding to a star formation efficiency for early-type galaxies of
. In the adiabatically compressed models, we find an average local
B-band stellar mass-to-light ratio of (M/L)_0 =
(7.2\pm0.5)(M_{\sun}/L_{\sun}) that evolves by
per unit redshift. Adjusting the isotropy of the stellar orbits has little
effect on the results. The adiabatically compressed models are strongly favored
if we impose either local estimates of the mass-to-light ratios of early-type
galaxies or the weak lensing measurements for the lens galaxies on 100 kpc
scales as model constraints.Comment: 9 figure
High resolution observations and mass modelling of the CLASS gravitational lens B1152+199
We present a series of high resolution radio and optical observations of the
CLASS gravitational lens system B1152+199 obtained with the Multi-Element
Radio-Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN), Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA)
and Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Based on the milliarcsecond-scale
substructure of the lensed radio components and precise optical astrometry for
the lensing galaxy, we construct models for the system and place constraints on
the galaxy mass profile. For a single galaxy model with surface mass density
Sigma(r) propto r^-beta, we find that 0.95 < beta < 1.21 at 2-sigma confidence.
Including a second deflector to represent a possible satellite galaxy of the
primary lens leads to slightly steeper mass profiles.Comment: 7 pages, post-referee revision for MNRA
Completeness in Photometric and Spectroscopic Searches for Clusters
We investigate, using simulated galaxy catalogues, the completeness of
searches for massive clusters of galaxies in redshift surveys or imaging
surveys with photometric redshift estimates, i.e. what fraction of clusters
(M>10^14/h Msun) are found in such surveys. We demonstrate that the matched
filter method provides an efficient and reliable means of identifying massive
clusters even when the redshift estimates are crude. In true redshift surveys
the method works extremely well. We demonstrate that it is possible to
construct catalogues with high completeness, low contamination and both varying
little with redshift.Comment: ApJ in press, 15 pages, 10 figure
A New Shear Estimator for Weak Lensing Observations
We present a new shear estimator for weak lensing observations which properly
accounts for the effects of a realistic point spread function (PSF). Images of
faint galaxies are subject to gravitational shearing followed by smearing with
the instrumental and/or atmospheric PSF. We construct a `finite resolution
shear operator' which when applied to an observed image has the same effect as
a gravitational shear applied prior to smearing. This operator allows one to
calibrate essentially any shear estimator. We then specialize to the case of
weighted second moment shear estimators. We compute the shear polarizability
which gives the response of an individual galaxy's polarization to a
gravitational shear. We then compute the response of the population of
galaxies, and thereby construct an optimal weighting scheme for combining shear
estimates from galaxies of various shapes, luminosities and sizes. We define a
figure of merit --- an inverse shear variance per unit solid angle --- which
characterizes the quality of image data for shear measurement. The new method
is tested with simulated image data. We discuss the correction for anisotropy
of the PSF and propose a new technique involving measuring shapes from images
which have been convolved with a re-circularizing PSF. We draw attention to a
hitherto ignored noise related bias and show how this can be analyzed and
corrected for. The analysis here draws heavily on the properties of real PSF's
and we include as an appendix a brief review, highlighting those aspects which
are relevant for weak lensing.Comment: 39 pages, 9 figure
Gauging the dark matter fraction in a S0 galaxy at z=0.47 through gravitational lensing from deep HST/ACS imaging
We analyze a new gravitational lens, OAC-GL J1223-1239, serendipitously found
in a deep I-band image of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for
Surveys (ACS). The lens is a L_*, edge-on S0 galaxy at z=0.4656. The
gravitational arc has a radius of 0.42 arcsec. We have determined the total
mass and the dark matter (DM) fraction within the Einstein radius as a function
of the lensed source redshift, which is presently unknown. For z ~ 1.3, which
is in the middle of the redshift range plausible for the source according to
some external constraints, we find the central velocity dispersion to be ~180
km/s. With this value, close to that obtained by means of the Faber-Jackson
relation at the lens redshift, we compute a 30% DM fraction within the Einstein
radius (given the uncertainty in the source redshift, the allowed range for the
DM fraction is 25-35 % in our lensing model). When compared with the galaxies
in the local Universe, the lensing galaxy, OAC-GL J1223-1239 seems to fall in
the transition regime between massive DM dominated galaxies and lower-mass, DM
deficient systems.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in Ap
COSMOGRAIL: the COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses VII. Time delays and the Hubble constant from WFI J2033-4723
Gravitationally lensed quasars can be used to map the mass distribution in
lensing galaxies and to estimate the Hubble constant H0 by measuring the time
delays between the quasar images. Here we report the measurement of two
independent time delays in the quadruply imaged quasar WFI J2033-4723 (z =
1.66). Our data consist of R-band images obtained with the Swiss 1.2 m EULER
telescope located at La Silla and with the 1.3 m SMARTS telescope located at
Cerro Tololo. The light curves have 218 independent epochs spanning 3 full
years of monitoring between March 2004 and May 2007, with a mean temporal
sampling of one observation every 4th day. We measure the time delays using
three different techniques, and we obtain Dt(B-A) = 35.5 +- 1.4 days (3.8%) and
Dt(B-C) = 62.6 +4.1/-2.3 days (+6.5%/-3.7%), where A is a composite of the
close, merging image pair. After correcting for the time delays, we find R-band
flux ratios of F_A/F_B = 2.88 +- 0.04, F_A/F_C = 3.38 +- 0.06, and F_A1/F_A2 =
1.37 +- 0.05 with no evidence for microlensing variability over a time scale of
three years. However, these flux ratios do not agree with those measured in the
quasar emission lines, suggesting that longer term microlensing is present. Our
estimate of H0 agrees with the concordance value: non-parametric modeling of
the lensing galaxy predicts H0 = 67 +13/-10 km s-1 Mpc-1, while the Single
Isothermal Sphere model yields H0 = 63 +7/-3 km s-1 Mpc-1 (68% confidence
level). More complex lens models using a composite de Vaucouleurs plus NFW
galaxy mass profile show twisting of the mass isocontours in the lensing
galaxy, as do the non-parametric models. As all models also require a
significant external shear, this suggests that the lens is a member of the
group of galaxies seen in field of view of WFI J2033-4723.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, published in A&
New constraints on primordial black holes abundance from femtolensing of gamma-ray bursts
The abundance of primordial black holes is currently significantly
constrained in a wide range of masses. The weakest limits are established for
the small mass objects, where the small intensity of the associated physical
phenomenon provides a challenge for current experiments. We used gamma- ray
bursts with known redshifts detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM)
to search for the femtolensing effects caused by compact objects. The lack of
femtolensing detection in the GBM data provides new evidence that primordial
black holes in the mass range 5 \times 10^{17} - 10^{20} g do not constitute a
major fraction of dark matter.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Physical Review
The Dipole Anisotropy of the 2mass Redshift Survey
We estimate the flux weighted acceleration on the Local Group (LG) from the
near-infrared Two Micron All Sky Redshift Survey (2MRS). The near-infrared flux
weighted dipoles are very robust because they closely approximate a mass
weighted dipole, bypassing the effects of redshift distortions and require no
preferred reference frame. We use this method with the redshift information to
determine the change in dipole with distance. The LG dipole seemingly converges
by 60 Mpc/h. Assuming convergence, the comparison of the 2MRS flux dipole and
the CMB dipole provides a value for the combination of the mass density and
luminosity bias parameters Omega_m^0.6/b_L= 0.40+/-0.09.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Contribution to Rencontres de Moriond: Contents
and Structures of the Universe, March 18-25, 2006, La Thuil
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