Scalar field haloes as gravitational lenses

A non-topological soliton model with a repulsive scalar self-interaction of the Emden type provides a constant-density core, similarly as the empirical Burkert profile of dark matter (DM) haloes. As a further test, we derive the gravitational lens properties of our model, in particular, the demarcation curves between 'weak' and 'strong' lensing. Accordingly, strong lensing with typically three images is almost three times more probable for our solitonic model than for the Burkert fit. Moreover, some prospective consequences of a possible flattening of DM haloes are indicated.     

Goals of the ARISE space VLBI mission

Supermassive black holes, with masses of 10⁶ M to more than 10⁹ M, are among the most spectacular objects in the Universe, and are laboratories for physics in extreme conditions. The primary goal of ARISE (Advanced Radio Interferometry between Space and Earth) is to use the technique of Space VLBI to increase our understanding of black holes and their environments, by imaging the havoc produced in the near vicinity of the black holes by their enormous gravitational fields. The mission will be based on a 25-meter space-borne radio telescope operating at frequencies between 8 and 86 GHz, roughly equivalent to an orbiting element of the Very Long Baseline Array. In an elliptical orbit with an apogee height of 40 000–100 000 km, ARISE will provide a resolution of 15 microarcsecond or better, 5–10 times better than that achievable on the ground. At frequencies of 43 and 86 GHz, the resolution of light weeks to light months in distant quasars will complement the gamma-ray and X-ray observations of high-energy photons, which come from the same regions near the massive black holes. At 22 GHz, ARISE will image the H₂O maser disks in active galaxies more than 15 Mpc from Earth, probing accretion physics and giving accurate measurements of black-hole masses. ARISE also will study gravitational lenses at resolutions of tens of microarcseconds, yielding important information on the dark-matter distribution and on the possible existence of compact objects with masses of 10³ M to 10⁶ M.