252 research outputs found
Measuring Supermassive Black Holes in Distant Galaxies with Central Lensed Images
The supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy can be weighed,
in rare but realistic cases, when the galaxy acts as a strong gravitational
lens. The central image that should be produced by the lens is either destroyed
or accompanied by a second central image, depending on the mass of the black
hole. We demonstrate that when a central image pair is detected, the mass of
the black hole can be determined with an accuracy of < 0.1 dex, if the form of
the smooth mass distribution near the galaxy core is known. Uncertainty in the
central mass distribution introduces a systematic error in the black hole mass
measurement. However, even with nearly complete ignorance of the inner mass
distribution, the black hole mass can still be determined to within a factor of
10. Central image pairs should be readily observable with future radio
interferometers, allowing this technique to be used for a census of
supermassive black holes in inactive galaxies at significant redshift (0.2 < z
< 1.0).Comment: 12 pages including 4 figures, ApJL in press (edited to match
published version, one typo corrected
Redshifts of CLASS Radio Sources
Spectroscopic observations of a sample of 42 flat-spectrum radio sources from
the Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey (CLASS) have yielded a mean redshift of with an RMS spread of 0.95, at a completeness level of 64%. The sample
consists of sources with a 5-GHz flux density of 25-50 mJy, making it the
faintest flat-spectrum radio sample for which the redshift distribution has
been studied. The spectra, obtained with the Willam Herschel Telescope (WHT),
consist mainly of broad-line quasars at and narrow-line galaxies at
. Though the mean redshift of flat-spectrum radio sources exhibits
little variation over more than two orders of magnitude in radio flux density,
there is evidence for a decreasing fraction of quasars at weaker flux levels.
In this paper we present the results of our spectroscopic observations, and
discuss the implications for constraining cosmological parameters with
statistical analyses of the CLASS survey.Comment: 10 pages, AJ accepte
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
Cyclotron motion in graphene
We investigate cyclotron motion in graphene monolayers considering both the
full quantum dynamics and its semiclassical limit reached at high carrier
energies. Effects of zitterbewegung due to the two dispersion branches of the
spectrum dominate the irregular quantum motion at low energies and are obtained
as a systematic correction to the semiclassical case. Recent experiments are
shown to operate in the semiclassical regime.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure include
Measuring Cosmological Parameters with the JVAS and CLASS Gravitational Lens Surveys
The JVAS (Jodrell Bank-VLA Astrometric Survey) and CLASS (Cosmic Lens All-Sky
Survey) are well-defined surveys containing about ten thousand flat-spectrum
radio sources. For many reasons, flat-spectrum radio sources are particularly
well-suited as a population from which one can obtain unbiased samples of
gravitational lenses. These are by far the largest gravitational (macro)lens
surveys, and particular attention was paid to constructing a cleanly-defined
sample for the survey itself and for the underlying luminosity function. Here
we present the constraints on cosmological parameters, particularly the
cosmological constant, derived from JVAS and combine them with constraints from
optical gravitational lens surveys, `direct' measurements of ,
and the age of the universe, and constraints derived from CMB
anisotropies, before putting this final result into the context of the latest
results from other, independent cosmological tests.Comment: LaTeX, 9 pages, 6 PostScript figures, uses texas.sty. To appear in
the Proceedings of the 19th Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics and
Cosmology (CD-ROM). Paper version available on request. Actual poster (A0 and
A4 versions) available from
http://multivac.jb.man.ac.uk:8000/helbig/research/publications/info/
texas98.htm
CLASS B0827+525: `Dark lens' or binary radio-loud quasar?
We present radio, optical, near-infrared and spectroscopic observations of
the source B0827+525. We consider this source as the best candidate from the
Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey (CLASS) for a `dark lens' system or binary
radio-loud quasar. The system consists of two radio components with somewhat
different spectral indices, separated by 2.815 arcsec. VLBA observations show
that each component has substructure on a scale of a few mas. A deep K-band
exposure with the W.M.Keck-II Telescope reveals emission near both radio
components. The K-band emission of the weaker radio component appears extended,
whereas the emission from the brighter radio component is consistent with a
point source. Hubble Space Telescope F160W-band observations with the NICMOS
instrument confirms this. A redshift of 2.064 is found for the brighter
component, using the LRIS instrument on the W.M.Keck-II Telescope. The
probability that B0827+525 consists of two unrelated compact flat-spectrum
radio sources is ~3%, although the presence of similar substructure in both
component might reduce this.
We discuss two scenarios to explain this system: (i) CLASS B0827+525 is a
`dark lens' system or (ii) B0827+525 is a binary radio-loud quasar. B0827+525
has met all criteria that thus far have in 100% of the cases confirmed a source
as an indisputable gravitational lens system. Despite this, no lens galaxy has
been detected with m_F160W<=23 mag. Hence, we might have found the first binary
radio-loud quasar. At this moment, however, we feel that the `dark lens'
hypothesis cannot yet be fully excluded.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures; Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics; Full-res. images 1 and 3 can be obtained from L.V.E.
B0850+054: a new gravitational lens system from CLASS
We report the discovery of a new gravitational lens system from the CLASS
survey. Radio observations with the VLA, the WSRT and MERLIN show that the
radio source B0850+054 is comprised of two compact components with identical
spectra, a separation of 0.7 arcsec and a flux density ratio of 6:1. VLBA
observations at 5 GHz reveal structures that are consistent with the
gravitational lens hypothesis. The brighter of the two images is resolved into
a linear string of at least six sub-components whilst the weaker image is
radially stretched towards the lens galaxy. UKIRT K-band imaging detects an
18.7 mag extended object, but the resolution of the observations is not
sufficient to resolve the lensed images and the lens galaxy. Mass modelling has
not been possible with the present data and the acquisition of high-resolution
optical data is a priority for this system.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The new two-image gravitational lens system CLASS B2319+051
We report the discovery of a new two-image gravitational lens system from the
Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey, CLASS B2319+051. Radio imaging with the Very Large
Array (VLA) and Multi-Element Radio-Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN)
shows two compact components with a flux density ratio of 5:1, separated by
1.36 arcsec. Observations with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) resolve each
of the radio components into a pair of parity-reversed subcomponents. Hubble
Space Telescope (HST) observations with the Near-Infrared Camera and
Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) show a bright elliptical galaxy (G1)
coincident with the radio position, and a second irregular galaxy (G2) 3.4
arcsec to the northwest. Previous spectroscopic studies have indicated that
these galaxies are at different redshifts: z(G1) = 0.624, z(G2) = 0.588.
Infrared counterparts to the lensed radio components are not detected in the
NICMOS image, and the source redshift has not yet been determined. Preliminary
mass modeling based on the VLBA subcomponent data indicates that the lensing
potential includes a strong external shear contribution. A VLA monitoring
program is currently being undertaken to measure the differential time delay.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figs, several typos corrected, AJ in press (August 2001
CLASS B2108+213: A new wide separation gravitational lens system
We present observations of CLASS B2108+213, the widest separation
gravitational lens system discovered by the Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey. Radio
imaging using the VLA at 8.46 GHz and MERLIN at 5 GHz shows two compact
components separated by 4.56 arcsec with a faint third component in between
which we believe is emission from a lensing galaxy. 5-GHz VLBA observations
reveal milliarcsecond-scale structure in the two lensed images that is
consistent with gravitational lensing. Optical emission from the two lensed
images and two lensing galaxies within the Einstein radius is detected in
Hubble Space Telescope imaging. Furthermore, an optical gravitational arc,
associated with the strongest lensed component, has been detected. Surrounding
the system are a number of faint galaxies which may help explain the wide image
separation. A plausible mass distribution model for CLASS B2108+213 is also
presented.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
A New Quadruple Gravitational Lens System: CLASS B0128+437
High resolution MERLIN observations of a newly-discovered four-image
gravitational lens system, B0128+437, are presented. The system was found after
a careful re-analysis of the entire CLASS dataset. The MERLIN observations
resolve four components in a characteristic quadruple-image configuration; the
maximum image separation is 542 mas and the total flux density is 48 mJy at 5
GHz. A best-fit lens model with a singular isothermal ellipsoid results in
large errors in the image positions. A significantly improved fit is obtained
after the addition of a shear component, suggesting that the lensing system is
more complex and may consist of multiple deflectors. The integrated radio
spectrum of the background source indicates that it is a GigaHertz-Peaked
Spectrum (GPS) source. It may therefore be possible to resolve structure within
the radio images with deep VLBI observations and thus better constrain the
lensing mass distribution.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 4 pages, 3 included PostScript
figure
- …