Related papers: Arc sensitivity to cluster ellipticity, asymmetrie…
In modern hierarchical theories of structure formation, rich clusters of galaxies form at the vertices of a weblike distribution of matter, with filaments emanating from them to large distances and with smaller objects forming and draining…
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 gravitational lensing by galaxy clusters magnifies background galaxies, enhancing our ability to discover statistically significant samples of galaxies at z>6, in order to constrain the high-redshift galaxy luminosity functions.…
We have worked out simple analytical formulae that accurately approximate the relationship between the position of the source with respect to the lens center and the amplification of the images, hence the lens cross section, for realistic…
Long arcs in clusters of galaxies, produced by gravitational lensing, can be used to estimate the mass interior to the arcs and therefore, constrain the cluster mass distribution. The radial density distribution of the intracluster gas…
We present a detailed study of the morphological features of 22 rich galaxy clusters. We systematically compare cluster images and morphological parameters in an attempt to reliably identify possible substructure in both optical and X-ray…
The statistical properties of the ellipticities of galaxy images depend on how galaxies form and evolve, and therefore constrain models of galaxy morphology, which are key to the removal of the intrinsic alignment contamination of…
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…
Magnification bias, an observational effect of gravitational lensing in the weak regime, allows testing the cosmological model through angular correlations of sources at different redshifts. This effect has been observed in various…
The 3D mass distributions of galaxy clusters are generally triaxial, a geometry that is difficult to constrain from projected observations. In this work, we measure the projected halo shapes of clusters from their weak lensing signatures…
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…
If properly calibrated, the shapes of galaxy clusters can be used to investigate many physical processes: from feedback and quenching of star formation, to the nature of dark matter. Theorists frequently measure shapes using moments of…
We study the ellipticity of galaxy cluster halos as characterized by the distribution of cluster galaxies and as measured with weak lensing. We use monte-carlo simulations of elliptical cluster density profiles to estimate and correct for…
We examine whether a cosmologically significant distribution of dark galaxy group or cluster-sized objects can have an optical depth for multiple imaging of distant background sources which is comparable to that from known galaxies while at…
The morphology of galaxy clusters reflects the epoch at which they formed and hence depends on the value of the mean cosmological density, Omega. Recent studies have shown that the distribution of dark matter in clusters can be mapped from…
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…
Galactic sized gravitational lenses are simulated by combining a cosmological N-body simulation and models for the baryonic component of the galaxy. The lens caustics, critical curves, image locations and magnification ratios are calculated…
Strong lensing has developed into an important astrophysical tool for probing both cosmology and galaxies (their structure, formation, and evolution). Using the gravitational lensing theory and cluster mass distribution model, we try to…
In this work we investigate the gravitationally lensed system B1422+231. High--quality VLBI image positions, fluxes and shapes as well as an optical HST lens galaxy position are used. First, two simple and smooth models for the lens galaxy…
{}From the lensing properties of a numerically simulated cluster, from the statistical properties of the giant arcs produced by the cluster, and from comparing the cluster properties derived both from lensing and from the X-ray properties…