Using weak lensing to find halo masses

Since the strength of weak gravitational lensing is proportional to the mass along the line of sight, it might be possible to use lensing data to find the masses of individual dark matter clusters. Unfortunately, the effect on the lensing field of other matter along the line of sight is substantial. We investigate to what extent we can correct for these projection effects if we have additional information about the most massive halos along the line of sight from deep optical data. We do this by calculating the contributions of these line-of-sight halos to the lensing field and then subtracting off this effect. Three different approaches are used to calculate these contributions: the first approach uses the exact mass distribution of the line-of-sight halos, the second assumes the masses are known and uses the NFW model and the third approach uses richness as an estimator for mass and then also assumes the NFW model. We find that, whichever approach we take, unless we know the masses and positions of line-of-sight halos down to a very low mass, we can only correct for a small part of the line-of-sight projection. We conclude that if we try to use lensing data to find individual cluster masses, there is an error of about 15–20% due to line-of-sight projection that cannot be corrected for.     

Substructures in lens galaxies: PG1115+080 and B1555+375, two fold configurations

We study the anomalous flux ratio which is observed in some four-image lens systems, where the source lies close to a fold caustic. In this case two of the images are close to the critical curve and their flux ratio should be equal to unity, instead in several cases the observed value differs significantly. The most plausible solution is to invoke the presence of substructures, as for instance predicted by the Cold Dark Matter scenario, located near the two images. In particular, we analyze the two fold lens systems PG1115+080 and B1555+375, for which there are not yet satisfactory models which explain the observed anomalous flux ratios. We add to a smooth lens model, which reproduces well the positions of the images but not the anomalous fluxes, one or two substructures described as singular isothermal spheres. For PG1115+080 we consider a smooth model with the influence of the group of galaxies described by a SIS and a substructure with mass ∼10⁵ M _⊙ as well as a smooth model with an external shear and one substructure with mass ∼10⁸ M _⊙. For B1555+375 either a strong external shear or two substructures with mass ∼10⁷ M _⊙ reproduce the data quite well.     

Organic matter in space: from star dust to the Solar System

Organic compounds of high degree of complexity are now known to be widespread in the Universe, ranging from objects in our Solar System to distant galaxies. Through the techniques of millimeter-wave spectroscopy, over 140 molecules have been identified through their rotational transitions. Space infrared spectroscopy has detected the stretching and bending modes of compounds with aromatic and aliphatic structures. Analyses of samples of meteorites, comets, asteroids, and interplanetary dust also revealed a rich content of organic substances, some of which could be of extra-solar origin. We review the current state of understanding of the origin, evolution, nature, and distribution of organic matter in space. Also discussed are a number of unexplained astronomical phenomena whose origins could be traced to organic carriers.     

Rotating haloes and the microlensing MACHO mass estimate

We investigate the implications of a bulk rotational component of the Galactic halo velocity distribution for MACHO mass estimates. We find that for a rotating halo to yield a MACHO mass estimate significantly below that of the standard spherical case, its microlensing must be highly concentrated close to the Sun. We examine two classes of models fitting this criterion: a highly flattened 1/ r ² halo, and a spheroid-like population the density of which falls off as 1/ r ^3.5. The highly flattened 1/ r ² models can decrease the implied average MACHO mass only marginally, and the spheroid models not at all. Generally, rotational models cannot bring the MACHO mass implied by the current microlensing data down to the substellar range.     

The use of gravitational microlensing to scan the structure of BAL QSOs

Approximately 10% of the QSOs show broad absorption lines (BAL) in their spectra which, if interpreted in terms of Doppler velocities, reveal the presence of high velocity gas outflows. One of these BAL QSOs is known to be gravitationally lensed. It therefore constitutes a good candidate to search for microlensing effects, i.e. the selective amplification of different line forming regions. Considering current models for the BAL region, we have investigated the effects of moving microlenses on the line profiles, and we conclude that these effects strongly depend on the adopted model. A regular spectroscopic monitoring of lensed BAL QSOs would therefore be highly valuable to distinguish between the various models proposed so far to interpret the origin of broad absorption lines.Also, Maître de Recherches au FNRS     

银河系恒星潮汐流的探测进展

银晕外区存在众多星流,它们或源自银河系的矮伴星系,或源自晕族球状星团,常分别称为矮星系星流和球状星团潮汐尾。星流可以利用各类示踪星,并通过不同的途径加以探测,对若干代表性矮星系星流和球状星团潮汐尾的探测进展做了简要的介绍。     

A cosmological study of the star formation history in the solar neighbourhood

We use a cosmological galactic evolutionary approach to model the Milky Way. A detailed treatment of the mass aggregation and dynamical history of the growing dark halo is included, together with a self-consistent physical treatment for the star formation processes within the growing galactic disc. This allows us to calculate the temporal evolution of star and gas surface densities at all galactic radii, in particular, the star formation history (SFH) at the solar radius. A large range of cosmological mass aggregation histories (MAHs) is capable of producing a galaxy with the present-day properties of the Milky Way. The resulting SFHs for the solar neighbourhood bracket the available observational data for this feature, the most probable MAH yielding the optimal comparison with these observations. We also find that the rotation curve for our Galaxy implies the presence of a constant density core in its dark-matter halo.     

MOND理论和暗物质模型的检验

从理论上探讨在地球引力系统内，修正动力学的引力理论以及暗物质模型的预言．着重研究修正动力学(MOND)的引力理论中一些常用的模型，对其中一个最简单模型，给出了球对称情况下引力势的一般表达式，计算了地球引力场中这些模型预言的卫星角速度，发现不同模型给出的角速度是不相同的，并且将这些值分别与牛顿理论的角速度值相比较．虽然这些模型的角速度与牛顿理论角速度的差异都很小，但简单模型的差异更大一些．对于月球作为卫星的情况，目前的技术有可能对这个角速度差进行实际观测．最后估算暗物质模型中月球绕地球运动角速度所受到的影响，证明它远远小于MOND理论的效应．由此对这个角速度差的观测，就构成检验MOND理论与暗物质模型的一个判据．     

General polytropic spheres as gravitational lenses

We propose hydrostatic polytropic spheres governed by the Lane-Emden equation (LEE) of index $n$ as a novel set of physical models for axially averaged gravitational lenses anywhere in the Universe, alternative to the familiar singular isothermal sphere (SIS) and the Navarro–Frenk–White (NFW) profile, as such general polytropic spheres are conceptually simple, versatile in representing a series of equations of state, and able to address both the inner core and cusp features. As LEE is nonlinear, there exist several distinct classes of LEE solutions to serve as physical lens models. With a few scaling parameters, the complete problem can be readily reconstructed with full physical dimensions. A given mass density profile satisfying LEE produces lensing effects that are solely determined by a dimensionless parameter $q$ which contains geometric and kinematic information about the source-lens-observer system. The lens mapping and tangential shear or distortion profile are derived, first analytically for special cases and then asymptotically at the outskirts or near the edge of the lens. Numerical procedures for calculating full lensing profiles of a general lens are developed. Our results include the analytical “singular polytropic sphere” (SPS) profile which generalizes the SIS model and may outperform the latter in modeling dark matter halos among others. We further point out that dynamic models of general polytropic spheres in self-similar evolution can serve as several broad classes of gravitational lenses and produce time-dependent lensing effects slow or fast depending on the pertinent time scales. Astrophysical sources that can be lensed include electromagnetic wave sources in the entire frequency band, gravitational wave sources in the entire frequency band, gravitons even possibly with finite masses, neutrino sources of three different types, neutron sources, and ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) of electrically charged particles which can also interact with magnetic fields. We discuss and elabrate applications to dark matter halos, hypermassive black holes and supermassive black holes in the entire Universe including the early Universe, magnetized supermassive stars, static and dynamically evolving spherical and cylindrical lenses in contexts of astrophysics and cosmology.     

A New Smoothing Algorithm and its Application in Gravitational Lensing_

Based on the DWT (discrete wavelet transform) method, we propose a new smoothing algorithm for computing surface densities from 3D numerical simulation samples. To check its effectiveness, we have applied this algorithm to two Monte-Carlo samples of gravitational lens simulation with different mass resolutions, generated from the isothermal ellipsoid model of dark matter halos. The calculated results indicate that this algorithm can reconstruct accurately the surface density distribution of the gravitational lens simulation sample, and that the lens caustics and critical curves derived from the surface densities agree well with the theoretical curves. We have compared the results calculated by using 3 different wavelet bases (Daub4, Daub6 and B-spline 3th), and identified the best one. Without sacrificing its smoothing capability, this algorithm has a very fast computing speed, suitable for later N-body numerical simulations, which require even higher resolutions.     

On the intrinsic bias in detecting caustic crossings between Galactic halo and self-lensing events in the Magellanic Clouds

In this paper, we investigate the intrinsic bias in detecting caustic crossings between the Galactic halo and self-lensing gravitational microlensing events in the Magellanic Clouds. For this, we determine the region for optimal caustic-crossing detection in the parameter space of the physical binary separations, ℓ, and the total binary lens mass, M , and find that the optimal regions for both populations of events are similar to each other. In particular, if the Galactic halo is composed of lenses with the claimed average mass of 〈 M 〉∼0.5 M_⊙, the optimal binary separation range of Galactic halo events of 3.5 au≲ℓ≲14 au matches well with that of a Magellanic Cloud self-lensing event caused by a binary lens with a total mass of M ∼1 M_⊙; well within the mass range of the most probable lens population of stars in the Magellanic Clouds. Therefore, our computation implies that if the binary fractions and the distributions of binary separations of the two populations of lenses are not significantly different from each other, there is no strong detection bias against Galactic halo caustic-crossing events.     

ECHA J0843.3–7905: Discovery of an ''old'' classical T Tauri star in the η Chamaeleontis cluster

Cold, dense clouds of gas have been proposed to explain the dark matter in Galactic haloes, and have also been invoked in the Galactic disc as an explanation for the excess faint submillimetre sources detected by SCUBA. Even if their dust-to-gas ratio is only a small percentage of that in conventional gas clouds, these dense systems would be opaque to visible radiation. We examine the possibility that the data sets of microlensing experiments searching for massive compact halo objects can also be used to search for occultation signatures by such clouds. We compute the rate and time-scale distribution of stellar transits by clouds in the Galactic disc and halo. We find that, for cloud parameters typically advocated by theoretical models, thousands of transit events should already exist within microlensing survey data sets. We examine the seasonal modulation in the rate caused by the Earth's orbital motion and find it provides an excellent probe of whether detected clouds are of disc or halo origin.     

Arc(let)s in clusters of galaxies

Summary The discovery of giant gravitational arcs and arclets in rich clusters of galaxies is one of the major events of the last decade in observational cosmology. High resolution imaging in subarcsecond seeing conditions of giant arcs gives information on the cluster potential and the matter distribution within the inner regions of clusters. Ultra-deep photometry of the clusters reveals numerous arclets with an orthoradial orientation from which one can infer the projected mass profile at large distance and the redshift distribution of the faintest distant background galaxies which are unobservable with standard spectroscopic techniques. Thanks to the strong magnification factor, the spectroscopy of giant arcs is possible and we can therefore observe with great detail a few very distant galaxies. Individual redshifts of arcs give the total mass of the lens, whereas the spectroscopy of a large sample of arcs also gives information on the redshift distribution of distant galaxies. It is obvious that cluster lenses play an important role as large natural telescopes for probing the distant universe. Finally, observations of multiple-arc configurations due to different sources may even constrain the cosmological parameters. We are now confident that gravitational lensing will be an essential tool within the next decade for observing very high redshift galaxies and the weak shear generated by the largest structures of the universe.In this review we summarize the present status of gravitational arc(let)s surveys with particular emphasis on the most important issues which have arisen during the last years and on the prospects for the future, regarding the rebirth of the Hubble Space Telescope, the coming of a new generation of Very Large Telescopes, and the development of large CCDs in the optical and the infrared.