288 research outputs found
Statistics of mass substructure from strong gravitational lensing: quantifying the mass fraction and mass function
A Bayesian statistical formalism is developed to quantify the level at which
the mass function slope (alpha) and the projected cumulative mass fraction (f)
of (CDM) substructure in strong gravitational-lens galaxies, with arcs or
Einstein rings, can be recovered as function of the lens-survey parameters and
the detection threshold of the substructure mass. The method is applied to
different sets of mock data to explore a range of observational limits: (i) the
number of lens galaxies in the survey, (ii) the mass threshold, Mlow, for the
detection of substructures and (iii) the uncertainty of the measured
substructure masses. We explore two different priors on the mass function
slope: a uniform prior and a Gaussian prior with alpha = 1.90+-0.1. With a
substructure detection threshold Mlow=3x10^8 Msun, the number of lenses
available now (n_l=30), a true dark-matter mass fraction in (CDM) substructure
<=1.0% and a prior of alpha = 1.90+-0.1, we find that the upper limit of f can
be constrained down to a level <=1.0% (95% CL). In the case of a Gaussian prior
on alpha, it is always possible to set stringent constraints on both
parameters. We also find that lowering the detection threshold has the largest
impact on the ability to recover alpha, because of the (expected) steep
mass-function slope. In the future, thanks to new surveys with telescopes, such
as SKA, LSST and JDEM and follow-up telescopes with high-fidelity data, a
significant increase in the number of known lenses will allow us to recover the
satellite population in its completeness. For example, a sample of 200 lenses,
equivalent in data-quality to the Sloan Lens ACS Survey and a detection
threshold of 10^8 Msun, allows one to determine f=0.5+-0.1% (68% CL) and
alpha=1.90+-0.2 (68% CL).Comment: MNRAS (in press
The Massive End of the Stellar Mass Function
We derive average flux corrections to the \texttt{Model} magnitudes of the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies by stacking together mosaics of
similar galaxies in bins of stellar mass and concentration. Extra flux is
detected in the outer low surface brightness part of the galaxies, leading to
corrections ranging from 0.05 to 0.32 mag for the highest stellar mass
galaxies. We apply these corrections to the MPA-JHU (Max-Planck Institute for
Astrophysics - John Hopkins University) stellar masses for a complete sample of
half a million galaxies from the SDSS survey to derive a corrected galaxy
stellar mass function at in the stellar mass range
. We find that the flux corrections and the use
of the MPA-JHU stellar masses have a significant impact on the massive end of
the stellar mass function, making the slope significantly shallower than that
estimated by Li \& White (2009), but steeper than derived by Bernardi et al.
(2013). This corresponds to a mean comoving stellar mass density of galaxies
with stellar masses that is a factor of 3.36
larger than the estimate by Li \& White (2009), but is 43\% smaller than
reported by Bernardi et al. (2013).Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, Accepted to MNRA
Parametrizing the Stellar Haloes of Galaxies
We study the stellar haloes of galaxies out to 70-100 kpc as a function of
stellar mass and galaxy type by stacking aligned and band images from a
sample of 45508 galaxies from SDSS DR9 in the redshift range
and in the mass range r. We derive surface brightness profiles to a depth of
almost . We find that the
ellipticity of the stellar halo is a function of galaxy stellar mass and that
the haloes of high concentration () galaxies are more elliptical than
those of low concentration () galaxies. The - colour profile of
high concentration galaxies reveals that the - colour of the stellar
population in the stellar halo is bluer than in the main galaxy, and the colour
of the stellar halo is redder for higher mass galaxies. We further demonstrate
that the full two-dimensional surface intensity distribution of our galaxy
stacks can only be fit through multi-component S\'{e}rsic models. Using the
fraction of light in the outer component of the models as a proxy for the
fraction of accreted stellar light, we show that this fraction is a function of
stellar mass and galaxy type. For high concentration galaxies, the fraction of
accreted stellar light rises from to for galaxies in the stellar
mass range from to . The fraction of
accreted light is much smaller in low concentration systems, increasing from
to over the same mass range. This work provides important
constraints for the theoretical understanding of the formation of stellar
haloes of galaxies.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, 18 pages, 19 figure
Resolving on 100 pc scales the UV-continuum in Lyman- emitters between redshift 2 to 3 with gravitational lensing
We present a study of seventeen LAEs at redshift 23 gravitationally
lensed by massive early-type galaxies (ETGs) at a mean redshift of
approximately 0.5. Using a fully Bayesian grid-based technique, we model the
gravitational lens mass distributions with elliptical power-law profiles and
reconstruct the UV-continuum surface brightness distributions of the background
sources using pixellated source models. We find that the deflectors are close
to, but not consistent with isothermal models in almost all cases, at the
-level. We take advantage of the lensing magnification (typically
20) to characterise the physical and morphological properties of
these LAE galaxies. From reconstructing the ultra-violet continuum emission, we
find that the star-formation rates range from 0.3 to 8.5 M yr
and that the galaxies are typically composed of several compact and diffuse
components, separated by 0.4 to 4 kpc. Moreover, they have peak star-formation
rate intensities that range from 2.1 to 54.1 M yr kpc.
These galaxies tend to be extended with major axis ranging from 0.2 to 1.8 kpc
(median 561 pc), and with a median ellipticity of 0.49. This morphology is
consistent with disk-like structures of star-formation for more than half of
the sample. However, for at least two sources, we also find off-axis components
that may be associated with mergers. Resolved kinematical information will be
needed to confirm the disk-like nature and possible merger scenario for the
LAEs in the sample.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication on MNRA
ALMA imaging of SDP.81 - I. A pixelated reconstruction of the far-infrared continuum emission
We present a sub-50 pc-scale analysis of the gravitational lens system SDP.81
at redshift 3.042 using Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA)
science verification data. We model both the mass distribution of the
gravitational lensing galaxy and the pixelated surface brightness distribution
of the background source using a novel Bayesian technique that fits the data
directly in visibility space. We find the 1 and 1.3 mm dust emission to be
magnified by a factor of u_tot = 17.6+/-0.4, giving an intrinsic total
star-formation rate of 315+/-60 M_sol/yr and a dust mass of 6.4+/-1.5*10^8
M_sol. The reconstructed dust emission is found to be non-uniform, but composed
of multiple regions that are heated by both diffuse and strongly clumped
star-formation. The highest surface brightness region is a ~1.9*0.7 kpc
disk-like structure, whose small extent is consistent with a potential
size-bias in gravitationally lensed starbursts. Although surrounded by extended
star formation, with a density of 20-30+/-10 M_sol/yr/kpc^2, the disk contains
three compact regions with densities that peak between 120-190+/-20
M_sol/yr/kpc^2. Such star-formation rate densities are below what is expected
for Eddington-limited star-formation by a radiation pressure supported
starburst. There is also a tentative variation in the spectral slope of the
different star-forming regions, which is likely due to a change in the dust
temperature and/or opacity across the source.Comment: MNRAS accepted 2015 April 1
ALMA imaging of SDP.81 - II. A pixelated reconstruction of the CO emission lines
We present a sub-100 pc-scale analysis of the CO molecular gas emission and
kinematics of the gravitational lens system SDP.81 at redshift 3.042 using
Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) science verification data
and a visibility-plane lens reconstruction technique. We find clear evidence
for an excitation dependent structure in the unlensed molecular gas
distribution, with emission in CO (5-4) being significantly more diffuse and
structured than in CO (8-7). The intrinsic line luminosity ratio is r_8-7/5-4 =
0.30 +/- 0.04, which is consistent with other low-excitation starbursts at z ~
3. An analysis of the velocity fields shows evidence for a star-forming disk
with multiple velocity components that is consistent with a
merger/post-coalescence merger scenario, and a dynamical mass of M(< 1.56 kpc)
= 1.6 +/- 0.6 x 10^10 M_sol . Source reconstructions from ALMA and the Hubble
Space Telescope show that the stellar component is offset from the molecular
gas and dust components. Together with Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array CO (1-0)
data, they provide corroborative evidence for a complex ~2 kpc-scale starburst
that is embedded within a larger ~15 kpc structure.Comment: MNRAS accepted, 6th July 201
SHARP - I. A high-resolution multi-band view of the infra-red Einstein ring of JVAS B1938+666
We present new mass models for the gravitational lens system B1938+666, using
multi-wavelength data acquired from Keck adaptive optics (AO) and Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) observations. These models are the first results from the
Strong-lensing at High Angular Resolution Program (SHARP), a project designed
to study known quadruple-image and Einstein ring lenses using high-resolution
imaging, in order to probe their mass distributions in unprecedented detail.
Here, we specifically highlight differences between AO- and HST-derived lens
models, finding that -- at least when the lens and source galaxies are both
bright and red, and the system has a high degree of circular symmetry --
AO-derived models place significantly tighter constraints on model parameters.
Using this improved precision, we infer important physical properties about the
B1938+666 system, including the mass density slope of the lensing galaxy (gamma
= 2.045), the projected dark matter mass fraction within the Einstein radius
(M_dark/M_lens = 0.55), and the total magnification factor of the source galaxy
(~ 13). Additionally, we measure an upper-limit constraint on luminous
substructure (M_V > 16.2), based on the non-detection of bright satellite
galaxies in all data sets. Finally, we utilize the improved image resolution of
the AO data to reveal the presence of faint arcs outside of the primary
Einstein ring. The positions and orientations of these arcs raise the
intriguing possibility that B1938+666 has a second source galaxy, located at a
more distant redshift. However, future work is needed to verify this
hypothesis.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures; Accepted for publication in MNRA
Inference of the Cold Dark Matter substructure mass function at z=0.2 using strong gravitational lenses
We present the results of a search for galaxy substructures in a sample of 11
gravitational lens galaxies from the Sloan Lens ACS Survey. We find no
significant detection of mass clumps, except for a luminous satellite in the
system SDSS J0956+5110. We use these non-detections, in combination with a
previous detection in the system SDSS J0946+1006, to derive constraints on the
substructure mass function in massive early-type host galaxies with an average
redshift z ~ 0.2 and an average velocity dispersion of 270 km/s. We perform a
Bayesian inference on the substructure mass function, within a median region of
about 32 kpc squared around the Einstein radius (~4.2 kpc). We infer a mean
projected substructure mass fraction at the 68
percent confidence level and a substructure mass function slope < 2.93
at the 95 percent confidence level for a uniform prior probability density on
alpha. For a Gaussian prior based on Cold Dark Matter (CDM) simulations, we
infer and a slope of =
1.90 at the 68 percent confidence level. Since only one
substructure was detected in the full sample, we have little information on the
mass function slope, which is therefore poorly constrained (i.e. the Bayes
factor shows no positive preference for any of the two models).The inferred
fraction is consistent with the expectations from CDM simulations and with
inference from flux ratio anomalies at the 68 percent confidence level.Comment: Accepted for publication on MNRAS, some typos corrected and some
important references adde
Gravitational detection of a low-mass dark satellite at cosmological distance
The mass-function of dwarf satellite galaxies that are observed around Local
Group galaxies substantially differs from simulations based on cold dark
matter: the simulations predict many more dwarf galaxies than are seen. The
Local Group, however, may be anomalous in this regard. A massive dark satellite
in an early-type lens galaxy at z = 0.222 was recently found using a new method
based on gravitational lensing, suggesting that the mass fraction contained in
substructure could be higher than is predicted from simulations. The lack of
very low mass detections, however, prohibited any constraint on their mass
function. Here we report the presence of a 1.9 +/- 0.1 x 10^8 M_sun dark
satellite in the Einstein-ring system JVAS B1938+666 at z = 0.881, where M_sun
denotes solar mass. This satellite galaxy has a mass similar to the Sagittarius
galaxy, which is a satellite of the Milky Way. We determine the logarithmic
slope of the mass function for substructure beyond the local Universe to be
alpha = 1.1^+0.6_-0.4, with an average mass-fraction of f = 3.3^+3.6_-1.8 %, by
combining data on both of these recently discovered galaxies. Our results are
consistent with the predictions from cold dark matter simulations at the 95 per
cent confidence level, and therefore agree with the view that galaxies formed
hierarchically in a Universe composed of cold dark matter.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Nature (19 January
2012
The X-shooter Lens Survey - II. Sample presentation and spatially resolved kinematics
We present the X-shooter Lens Survey (XLENS) data. The main goal of XLENS is
to disentangle the stellar and dark matter content of massive early-type
galaxies (ETGs), through combined strong gravitational lensing, dynamics and
spectroscopic stellar population studies. The sample consists of 11 lens
galaxies covering the redshift range from to and having stellar
velocity dispersions between and . All
galaxies have multi-band, high-quality HST imaging. We have obtained long-slit
spectra of the lens galaxies with X-shooter on the VLT. We are able to
disentangle the dark and luminous mass components by combining lensing and
extended kinematics data-sets, and we are also able to precisely constrain
stellar mass-to-light ratios and infer the value of the low-mass cut-off of the
IMF, by adding spectroscopic stellar population information. Our goal is to
correlate these IMF parameters with ETG masses and investigate the relation
between baryonic and non-baryonic matter during the mass assembly and structure
formation processes. In this paper we provide an overview of the survey,
highlighting its scientific motivations, main goals and techniques. We present
the current sample, briefly describing the data reduction and analysis process,
and we present the first results on spatially resolved kinematics.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
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