English

CSST Strong Lensing Preparation: Cosmological constraints from double-source-plane strong lensing systems in era of CSST

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics 2026-01-22 v1

Abstract

Double source plane strong lensing (DSPL) systems offer a robust, independent probe of cosmological parameters. The Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST) is expected to discover hundreds of DSPLs, yet the survey modes and system configurations that best enable cosmological inference remain uncertain. To investigate the impact of varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) and Einstein radius ratios of DSPLs (denoted as β1\beta^{-1} parameters) on cosmographic inference under different CSST survey modes (Wide Field (WF), Deep Field (DF), and Ultra-Deep Field (UDF)), we simulate and model mock lenses with Singular Isothermal Ellipsoid (SIE) mass profiles and S\'ersic sources whose image properties are tailored to CSST specifications. Assuming a flat wwCDM universe with fiducial values Ωm=0.30966\Omega_{\rm m} = 0.30966 and w=1w = -1, and uniform priors of Ωm[0,1]\Omega_{\rm m} \in [0, 1] and w[2,1/3w \in [-2, -1/3), we find that the constraining power on cosmological parameters for a given DSPL system increases significantly with survey depth. For a representative DSPL system with two prominent arcs and a moderate β1=1.17\beta^{-1}=1.17, the constraints on (w,Ωmw, \Omega_{\rm m}) improve from (1.281.00+0.64,0.500.32+0.28-1.28_{-1.00}^{+0.64}, 0.50_{-0.32}^{+0.28}) in the WF to (1.590.32+0.63,0.420.06+0.15-1.59_{-0.32}^{+0.63}, 0.42_{-0.06}^{+0.15}) in the UDF. Furthermore, we find that systems with smaller β\beta values yield tighter cosmographic constraints. We conclude that DSPL systems identified in UDF observations, particularly those with small β\beta, are the most promising candidates for early-stage cosmological studies with CSST.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.14675,
  title  = {CSST Strong Lensing Preparation: Cosmological constraints from double-source-plane strong lensing systems in era of CSST},
  author = {Bei-Chen Wu and Xiaoyue Cao and Nan Li and Yan Gong and Shenzhe Cui and Di Wu and Tong Zhao and Junhui Yan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.14675},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

14 pages, 3 figures, and 2 tables. Accepted for publication in RAA