Related papers: Quasar Mesolensing - Direct Probe to Substructures…
We present an analysis of seven strongly gravitationally lensed quasars and the corresponding constraints on the properties of dark matter. Our results are derived by modelling the lensed image positions and flux-ratios using a combination…
The nature of the dark sector of the Universe remains one of the outstanding problems in modern cosmology, with the search for new observational probes guiding the development of the next generation of observational facilities. Clues come…
In the upcoming synoptic all--sky survey era of astronomy, thousands of new multiply imaged quasars are expected to be discovered and monitored regularly. Light curves from the images of gravitationally lensed quasars are further affected…
Hierarchical clustering models of cold dark matter (CDM) predict that about 5% - 10% of a galaxy-sized halo with mass ~ 10^12 solar masses (M_sun) resides in substructures (CDM subhalos) with masses <= 10^8 M_sun. To directly identify such…
Gravitational microlensing is a powerful tool for probing the physical properties of quasar accretion disks and properties of the lens galaxy such as its dark matter fraction and mean stellar mass. Unfortunately the number of lensed quasars…
In gravitational lensing, central images in quads can serve as a powerful probe of the inner regions of lens galaxies. The presence of an offset central supermassive black hole (SMBH) has the potential to distort the time-delay surface in a…
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 present a reconstructions of galaxy-cluster-scale mass distributions from simulated gravitational lensing data sets including strong lensing, weak lensing shear, and measurements of quadratic image distortions -- flexion. The lensing…
The defining characteristic of the cold dark matter (CDM) hypothesis is the presence of a very large number of low-mass haloes, too small to have made a visible galaxy. Other hypotheses for the nature of the dark matter, such as warm dark…
Gravitationally-lensed quasars should be discovered as a by-product of large galaxy redshift surveys, being discovered spectroscopically when a low-redshift galaxy exhibits high-redshift quasar emission lines. The number of lenses expected…
Strongly gravitationally lensed quasar-galaxy systems allow us to compare competing cosmologies as long as one can be reasonably sure of the mass distribution within the intervening lens. In this paper, we assemble a catalog of 69 such…
The magnifications of the images in a strong gravitational lens system are sensitive to small mass clumps in the lens potential; this effect has been used to infer the amount of substructure in galaxy dark matter halos. I study the theory…
We show that dark matter substructure in galaxy-scale halos perturbs the time delays between images in strong gravitational lens systems. The variance of the effect depends on the subhalo mass function, scaling as the product of the…
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…
We investigate a recent claim that observed galaxy clusters produce an order of magnitude more galaxy-galaxy strong lensing (GGSL) than simulated clusters in a LCDM cosmology. We take galaxy clusters from the C-EAGLE hydrodynamical…
Massive structures, such as galaxies, act as strong gravitational lenses on background sources. When the background source is a quasar, several lensed images are seen, as magnified or de-magnified versions of the same object. The detailed…
Evolution in the mass function of galaxy clusters sensitively traces both the expansion history of the Universe and cosmological structure formation. Robust cluster mass determinations are a key ingredient for a reliable measurement of this…
An anomaly in the distribution of quasar magnitudes based on the SDSS survey, has been recently reported by Longo (2012). The angular size of this anomaly is of the order of $\rm \pm 15^o$ on the sky. A low surface brightness smooth…
In the third paper from the COOL-LAMPS Collaboration, we report the discovery of COOL J0542-2125, a gravitationally lensed quasar at $z=1.84$, observed as three images due to an intervening massive galaxy cluster at $z=0.61$. The lensed…
The characteristic prediction of the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model of cosmological structure formation is that the Universe should contain a wealth of small-scale structure -- low-mass dark matter haloes and subhaloes. However, galaxy…