Related papers: Quasar microlensing light curve analysis using dee…
I present a new algorithm, CALCLENS, for efficiently computing weak gravitational lensing shear signals from large N-body light cone simulations over a curved sky. This new algorithm properly accounts for the sky curvature and boundary…
Cosmic shear is a primary cosmological probe for several present and upcoming surveys investigating dark matter and dark energy, such as Euclid or WFIRST. The probe requires an extremely accurate measurement of the shapes of millions of…
Extended source effects can be seen in gravitational lensing events when sources cross critical lines. Those events probe the stellar intensity profile and could be used to measure limb darkening coefficients to test stellar model…
Video microscopy has a long history of providing insights and breakthroughs for a broad range of disciplines, from physics to biology. Image analysis to extract quantitative information from video microscopy data has traditionally relied on…
We introduce a new machine learning based technique to detect exoplanets using the transit method. Machine learning and deep learning techniques have proven to be broadly applicable in various scientific research areas. We aim to exploit…
Intensive monitoring campaigns have recently attempted to measure the time delays between multiple images of gravitational lenses. Some of the resulting light-curves show puzzling low-level, rapid variability which is unique to individual…
Vast amounts of astronomical photometric data are generated from various projects, requiring significant effort to identify variable stars and other object classes. In light of this, a general, widely applicable classification framework…
We use a relativistic ray-tracing code to calculate the light curves observed from a global general relativistic magneto-hydrodynamic simulation of an accretion flow onto a Schwarzschild black hole. We apply three basic emission models to…
Flux ratios of multiple images in strong gravitational lensing systems provide a powerful probe of dark matter substructure. Optical flux ratios of lensed quasars are typically affected by stellar microlensing, and thus studies of dark…
Quasars experiencing strong lensing offer unique viewpoints on subjects related to the cosmic expansion rate, the dark matter profile within the foreground deflectors, and the quasar host galaxies. Unfortunately, identifying them in…
We study the half-light radius versus black hole mass as well as the luminosity versus black hole mass relations in active galactic nuclei (AGN) when the disc is illuminated by the X-ray corona. We used KYNSED, a recently developed spectral…
We devise an optimal method to measure the temporal power spectrum of the lensing and intrinsic fluctuations of multiply-imaged strongly lensed quasar light curves, along with the associated time delays. The method is based on a Monte-Carlo…
Speckle patterns produced by coherent X-ray have a close relationship with the internal structure of materials but quantitative inversion of the relationship to determine structure from speckle patterns is challenging. Here, we investigate…
In this chapter, I present a summary of observational tests of the basic picture of disk accretion. An emphasis is placed on tests relevant to black holes, but many of the fundamental results are drawn from studies of other classes of…
A small fraction of all quasars are strongly lensed and multiply imaged, with usually a galaxy acting as the main lens. Some, maybe all of these quasars are also affected by microlensing, the effects of stellar mass objects in the lensing…
The passage of stars through the beam of a lensed quasar can induce violent fluctuations in its apparent brightness. The fluctuations observed in the Huchra lens, (2237+0305), are taken to be the first evidence of this ``microlensing''…
Lensed quasars are powerful cosmic laboratories; they are used to simultaneously probe various astrophysical phenomena. Microlensing by stars within distant galaxies acts as strong gravitational lenses of multiply imaged quasars, and…
We present a fast algorithm to produce light curves of distant stars undergoing microlensing near critical curves. The need of these type of algorithms is motivated by recent observations of microlensing events of distant stars at high…
Weak lensing shear estimation typically results in per galaxy statistical errors significantly larger than the sought after gravitational signal of only a few percent. These statistical errors are mostly a result of shape-noise -- an…
The rapid advancement of observational capabilities in astronomy has led to an exponential growth in the volume of light curve (LC) data, creating both opportunities and challenges for time-domain astronomy. Traditional analytical methods…