Related papers: Stellar masses calibrated with micro-lensed quasar…
We propose a new technique to directly measure the shapes of dark matter halos of galaxies using weak gravitational lensing. Extending the standard galaxy-galaxy lensing method, we show that the shape parameters of the mass distribution of…
The scatter in the galaxy size versus stellar mass (Mstar) relation gets largely reduced when, rather than the half-mass radius Re, the size at a fixed surface density is used. Here we address why this happens. We show how a reduction is to…
The masses of stars including stellar remnants are almost exclusively known from binary systems. In this work, we study gravitational microlensing of faint background galaxies by isolated neutron stars (pulsars). We show that the resulting…
Weak gravitational lensing has been used extensively in the past decade to constrain the masses of galaxy clusters, and is the most promising observational technique for providing the mass calibration necessary for precision cosmology with…
Gravitational microlensing is a new technique for studying the surfaces of distant stars. A point mass lens, usually a low-mass star from the disk, will typically resolve the surface of a red giant in the Galactic bulge, as well as amplify…
In the light of new full-sky surveys, many attempts of creating a consistent Galactic model were made. The main interest is to estimate the still poorly understood dark matter content. However, the results vary depending on methodology,…
We present new measurements of scaling laws relating the luminosity of galaxies to the amplitude and shape of their dark matter halos. Early imaging and spectroscopic data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey are used to make weak lensing…
We measure the average mass properties of a sample of 41 strong gravitational lenses at moderate redshift (z ~ 0.4 - 0.9), and present the lens redshift for 6 of these galaxies for the first time. Using the techniques of strong and weak…
We use a new non-parametric gravitational modelling tool -- \Glass{} -- to determine what quality of data (strong lensing, stellar kinematics, and/or stellar masses) are required to measure the circularly averaged mass profile of a lens and…
Gravitational microlensing of planetary-mass objects (or "nanolensing", as it has been termed) can be used to probe the distribution of mass in a galaxy that is acting as a gravitational lens. Microlensing and nanolensing light curve…
The Initial Mass Function (IMF) for massive galaxies can be constrained by combining stellar dynamics with strong gravitational lensing. However, this method is limited by degeneracies between the density profile of dark matter and the…
We present the stellar mass functions (SMF) and mass densities of galaxies, and their spheroid and disk components in the local (z~0.1) universe over the range 8.9 <= log(M/M_solar) <= 12 from spheroid+disk decompositions and corresponding…
We use 3.6 $\mu$m photometry from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S$^{4}$G) to trace the stellar distribution in nearby disk galaxies ($z\approx0$) with total stellar masses $10^{8.5}\lesssim…
The definition of the galactic stellar mass estimated from the spectral energy distribution is ambiguous in the literature; whether the stellar mass includes the mass of the stellar remnants, i.e. white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black…
Weak lensing is one of the best available diagnostic tools to measure the total density profiles of distant clusters of galaxies. Unfortunately, it suffers from the well-known mass-sheet degeneracy, so that weak lensing analyses cannot lead…
Kaiser & Squires have proposed a technique for mapping the dark matter in galaxy clusters using the coherent weak distortion of background galaxy images caused by gravitational lensing. We investigate the effectiveness of this technique…
We present weak-lensing mass measurements of 50 X-ray luminous galaxy clusters at $0.15\le z\le0.3$, based on uniform high quality observations with Suprime-Cam mounted on the 8.2-m Subaru telescope. We pay close attention to possible…
We determine an absolute calibration of the initial mass function (IMF) of early-type galaxies, by studying a sample of 56 gravitational lenses identified by the SLACS Survey. Under the assumption of standard Navarro, Frenk & White dark…
A brief review is given of the basic observed features of the stellar IMF, and also of some of the theoretical ideas and simulations that may help to explain these features. The characteristic stellar mass of order one solar mass may derive…
Stellar mass is a fundamental parameter that is key to our understanding of stellar formation and evolution, as well as the characterization of nearby exoplanet companions. Historically, stellar masses have been derived from long-term…