Related papers: Dark Matter in Galaxy Clusters: a Parametric Stron…
Parametric strong lensing studies of galaxy clusters often display misleading features: group/cluster scale dark matter components without any stellar counterpart, offsets between both components larger than what might be allowed by neither…
Strong gravitational lensing (SL) has emerged as a very accurate probe of the mass distribution of cluster- and galaxy-scale dark matter (DM) haloes in the inner regions of galaxy clusters. The derived properties of DM haloes can be…
Parametric strong lensing studies of galaxy clusters often display "misleading features". This is the case in the galaxy cluster Abell 370. Using strong lensing techniques, it has been described parametrically by a four dark matter clumps…
We measure the dark matter density profiles of six galaxy clusters: A383, MS 2137-23, MACS J0326.8-0043, MACS J1427.6-2521, MACS J0417.5-1154, and MACS J0949.8+1708. Each cluster contains at least one radial arc, a unique physical feature…
Light unaffiliated mass clumps (LUMCs), i.e. dark matter (DM) components without any stellar counterparts, have been reported in strong lensing mass reconstructions of MACS 0416, both on galaxy and galaxy cluster scales. On galaxy cluster…
Observations of a flat density profile in the cores of dark-matter-dominated halos on the two extremes of mass for virialized objects in the universe, dwarf galaxies and galaxy clusters, present a serious challenge to the current standard…
Lambda cold dark matter paradigm predicts that galaxy clusters follow an universal mass density profile and fit a well defined mass-concentration relation, with lensing clusters being preferentially triaxial haloes elongated along the line…
We assess how much unused strong lensing information is available in the deep \emph{Hubble Space Telescope} imaging and VLT/MUSE spectroscopy of the \emph{Frontier Field} clusters. As a pilot study, we analyse galaxy cluster…
Strong lensing studies can provide detailed mass maps of the inner regions even in dynamically active galaxy clusters. It is shown that proper modelling of the intracluster medium, i.e. the main baryonic component, can play an important…
We test the ability of strong lensing data to constrain the size of a central core in the dark matter halos of galaxy clusters, using Abell 611 as a prototype. Using simulated data, we show that modeling a cluster halo with ellipticity in…
We present results of a strong-lensing analysis of MACS J0717.5+3745 (hereafter MACS J0717), an extremely X-ray luminous galaxy cluster at z=0.55. Observations at different wavelengths reveal a complex and dynamically very active cluster,…
Gravitational lensing by galaxy clusters has emerged as a powerful tool to probe the standard Cold Dark Matter (CDM) paradigm of structure formation in the Universe. Despite the remarkable explanatory power of CDM on large scales, tensions…
The properties of substructure in galaxy clusters, exquisitely probed by gravitational lensing, offer a stringent test of dark matter (DM) models. Combining strong- and weak-lensing data for massive clusters, we map their total mass --…
We present an axially symmetric formula to calculate the probability of finding gravitational arcs in galaxy clusters, being induced by their massive dark matter haloes, as a function of clusters redshifts and virial masses. The formula…
Luminous stars in background galaxies straddling the lensing caustic of a foreground galaxy cluster can be individually detected due to extreme magnification factors of $\sim 10^2$--$10^3$, as recently observed in deep HST images. We…
Astrometric perturbations of lensed arcs behind galaxy clusters have been recently suggested as promising probes of small-scale ($\lesssim10^9 M_{\odot}$) dark matter substructure. Populations of cold dark matter (CDM) subhalos, predicted…
We test with gravitational lensing data the dark matter (DM) halos embedding the luminous baryonic component of galaxy clusters; our benchmark is provided by their two-stage cosmogonical development that we compute with its variance, and by…
Cluster strong lensing cosmography is a promising probe of the background geometry of the Universe and several studies have emerged, thanks to the increased quality of observations using space and ground-based telescopes. For the first…
Deep JWST images of AS1063 reveals tens of thousands of globular clusters in the galaxy cluster AS1063. When compared with the lensing model based on the same JWST data, the distribution of globular clusters traces closely the distribution…
We explore the use of strong lensing by galaxy clusters to constrain the dark energy equation of state and its possible time variation. The cores of massive clusters often contain several multiply imaged systems of background galaxies at…