Related papers: Gravitational lensing by Elliptical Galaxies, and …
Using the Schwarz function of an ellipse, it was recently shown that galaxies with density constant on confocal ellipses can produce at most four ``bright'' images of a single source. The more physically interesting example of an isothermal…
The fraction of high-redshift sources which are multiply-imaged by intervening galaxies is strongly dependent on the cosmological constant, and so can be a useful probe of the cosmological model. However its power is limited by various…
We have previously reported the discovery of strong gravitational lensing by faint elliptical galaxies using the WFPC2 on HST and here we investigate their potential usefulness in putting constraints on lens mass models. We compare various…
We study the problem of gravitational lensing by an isothermal elliptical density galaxy in the presence of a tidal perturbation. When the perturbation is fairly strong and oriented near the galaxy's minor axis, the lens can produce image…
It is generally thought that galaxies are embedded in dark matter halos extending well beyond their luminous matter. The existence of these galactic halos is mainly derived from the larger than expected velocities of stars and gas in the…
By directly probing mass distributions, gravitational lensing offers several new tests of the CDM paradigm. Lens statistics place upper limits on the dark matter content of elliptical galaxies. Galaxies built from CDM mass distributions are…
We explore the halo structure of four gravitational lenses with well-observed, thin Einstein rings. We find that the gravitational potentials are well described by ellipsoidal density distributions in the sense that the best-fit…
Gravitational lensing can be by a faint star, a trillion stars of a galaxy, or a cluster of galaxies, and this poses a familiar struggle between particle method and mean field method. In a bottom-up approach, a puzzle has been laid on…
If the statistics of quasar lensing are to be used to constrain the cosmological model, the various potential systematic uncertainties in the deflector population must be accounted for. One ambiguity in the lensing properties of the…
Strong lensing has developed into an important astrophysical tool for probing both cosmology and galaxies (their structure, formation, and evolution). Using the gravitational lensing theory and cluster mass distribution model, we try to…
In this work we introduced a new proposal to study the gravitational lensing theory by spherical lenses, starting from its surface mass density $\Sigma(x)$ written in terms of a decreasing function $f$ of a dimensionless coordinate $x$ on…
Strong gravitational lensing gives access to the total mass distribution of galaxies. It can unveil a great deal of information about the lenses dark matter content when combined with the study of the lenses light profile. However,…
The density of stars and MACHOs in the universe could theoretically be determined or limited by simultaneous measurements of compact sources by well separated observers. A gravitational lens effect would be expected to create a slight…
(Abridged) We perform a detailed analysis of the optical gravitational lens ER 0047-2808 imaged with WFPC2 on the Hubble Space Telescope. Using software specifically designed for the analysis of resolved gravitational lens systems, we focus…
Multiple image gravitational lens systems, and especially quads are invaluable in determining the amount and distribution of mass in galaxies. This is usually done by mass modeling using parametric or free-form methods. An alternative way…
An exquisite gravitational arc with a radius of 2.1" has been discovered around the z = 0.938 field elliptical galaxy CFRS03.1077 during HST observations of Canada-France Redshift Survey (CFRS) fields. Spectroscopic observations of the arc…
The observables in a strong gravitational lens are usually just the image positions and sometimes the flux ratios. We develop a new and simple algorithm which allows a set of models to be fitted exactly to the observations. Taking our cue…
We present equations for the gravitational lensing flexion expected for an elliptical lens mass distribution. These can be reduced to one-dimensional finite integrals, thus saving significant computing time over a full two-dimensional…
We have worked out simple analytical formulae that accurately approximate the relationship between the position of the source with respect to the lens center and the amplification of the images, hence the lens cross section, for realistic…
Gravitational lensing deflects light. A single lens deflector can only shear images, but cannot induce rotations. Multiple lens planes can induce rotations. Such rotations can be observed in quadruply imaged sources, and can be used to…