Related papers: Can continuous density profile correctly describe …
The magnification effect of gravitational lensing is a powerful probe of the distribution of matter in the universe, yet it is frequently overlooked due to the fact that its signal to noise is smaller than that of lensing shear. Because its…
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of weak gravitational lensing and its current applications in cosmology. We begin by introducing the fundamental concepts of gravitational lensing and derive the key equations for the…
Gravitational lensing offers a competitive method to measure $H_0$ with the goal of 1% precision. A major obstacle comes in the form of lensing degeneracies, such as the mass sheet degeneracy (MSD), which make it possible for a family of…
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…
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…
Weak gravitational lensing provides a direct way to study the mass distribution of clusters of galaxies at large radii. Unfortunately, large scale structure along the line of sight also contributes to the lensing signal, and consequently…
Bright galaxy-galaxy strong lenses are much more powerful than lensed quasars for measuring the mass profiles of galaxies, but until this year only a handful have been known. Here we present five new examples, identified via the optimal…
Strong lensing has developed into an important astrophysical tool for probing both cosmology and galaxies (their structures, formations, and evolutions). Now several hundreds of strong lens systems produced by massive galaxies have been…
Similarly to light, gravitational waves can be gravitationally lensed as they propagate near massive astrophysical objects such as galaxies, stars, or black holes. In recent years, forecasts have suggested a reasonable chance of strong…
We show how observations of multiply-imaged quasars at high redshift can be used as a probe of dark matter clumps (subhalos with masses ~ 10^9 solar masses) within the virialized extent of more massive lensing halos. A large abundance of…
The centres of galaxies are powerful laboratories to test the current $\Lambda$CDM model for structure formation and evolution. While these sub-galactic scales can be directly investigated in the local Universe, it is observationally…
The nature of the dark matter remains a mystery. The possibility of an unstable dark matter particle decaying to invisible daughter particles has been explored many times in the past few decades. Meanwhile, weak gravitational lensing shear…
The last decade has shown a considerable development of gravitational lensing for cosmology because it probes the amount and the nature of dark matter, and provides information on the density parameter $\Omega$, the cosmological constant…
Strong gravitational lenses allow us to peer into the farthest reaches of space by bending the light from a background object around a massive object in the foreground. Unfortunately, these lenses are extremely rare, and manually finding…
Weak gravitational lensing has become an important method to determine the masses of galaxy clusters. The intrinsic shapes of the galaxies are a dominant source of uncertainty, but there are other limitations to the precision that can be…
Weak gravitational lensing of background galaxies provides a direct probe of the projected matter distribution in and around galaxy clusters. Here we present a self-contained pedagogical review of cluster--galaxy weak lensing, covering a…
The last decade has seen an enormous increase of activity in the field of gravitational lensing, mainly driven by improvements of observational capabilities. I will review the basics of gravitational lens theory, just enough to understand…
We report on an investigation of the environments of the SLACS sample of gravitational lenses. The local and global environments of the lenses are characterized using SDSS photometry and, when available, spectroscopy. We find that the lens…
Using stellar dynamics and strong gravitational lensing as complementary probes, Sand et al. (2002, 2003) have recently claimed strong evidence for shallow dark matter density profiles in several lensing clusters, which may conflict with…
Gravitational lensing magnification bias is a valuable tool for studying mass density profiles, with submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) serving as ideal background sources. The satellite distribution in galaxy clusters also provides insights…