The anatomy of a quadruply imaged gravitational lens system

The key to using a strong gravitational lens system to measure the Hubble constant is to obtain an accurate model of the lens potential. In this paper, we investigate the properties of gravitational lens B1608+656, a quadruply imaged lens system with an extended source intensity distribution. Our analysis is valid for generic quadruply lensed systems. Limit curves and isophotal separatrices are defined for such systems, and we show that the isophotal separatrices must intersect at the critical curves and the satellite isophotes must be tangent to the limit curves. The most recent model of B1608+656 by Koopmans et al. satisfies these criteria for some, but not all, of the isophotal separatrices within the observational uncertainty. We study a non-parametric method of potential reconstruction proposed by Blandford, Surpi & Kundic and demonstrate that although the method works in principle and elucidates image formation, the initial potential only converges to the true model when it is within ∼1 per cent of the true model.     

Adaptive contouring – an efficient way to calculate microlensing light curves of extended sources

The availability of a robust and efficient routine for calculating light curves of a finite source magnified due to bending of its light by the gravitational field of an intervening binary lens is essential for determining the characteristics of planets in such microlensing events, as well as for modelling stellar lens binaries and resolving the brightness profile of the source star. However, the presence of extended caustics, and the fact that the images of the source star cannot be determined analytically while their number depends on the source position (relative to the lens system), makes such a task difficult in general. Combining the advantages of several earlier approaches, an adaptive contouring algorithm is presented, which only relies on a small number of simple rules and operations on the adaptive search grid. By using the parametric representation of critical curves and caustics found by Erdl & Schneider, seed solutions to the adaptive grid are found, which ensures that no images or holes are missed.     

Smooth matter and source size in microlensing simulations of gravitationally lensed quasars

Several gravitationally lensed quasars are observed with anomalous magnifications in pairs of images that straddle a critical curve. Simple theoretical arguments suggest that the magnification of these images should be approximately equivalent, whereas one image is observed to be significantly demagnified. Microlensing provides a possible explanation for this discrepancy. There are two key parameters when modelling this effect. The first, the fraction of smooth matter in the lens at the image positions, has been explored by Schechter & Wambsganss. They have shown that the anomalous flux ratio observed in the lensed quasar MG 0414+0534 is a priori a factor of 5 more likely if the assumed smooth matter content in the lens model is increased from 0 to 93 per cent. The second parameter, the size of the emission region, is explored in this paper, and shown to be more significant. We find that the broadening of the magnification probability distributions due to smooth matter content is washed out for source sizes that are predicted by standard models for quasars. We apply our model to the anomalous lensed quasar MG 0414+0534, and find a 95 per cent upper limit of  2.62 × 10¹⁶  h ^−1/2₇₀ ( M /M_⊙)^1/2 cm  on the radius of the I -band emission region. The smooth matter percentage in the lens is unconstrained.     

The imprint of massive black hole formation models on the LISA data stream

The formation, merging and accretion history of massive black holes (MBHs) along the hierarchical build-up of cosmic structures leaves a unique imprint on the background of gravitational waves (GWs) at mHz frequencies. We study here, by means of dedicated simulations of black hole build-up, the possibility of constraining different models of black hole cosmic evolution using future GW space-borne missions, such as LISA . We consider two main scenarios for black hole formation, namely, one where seeds are light (  ≃10² M_⊙  , remnant of Population III stars) and one where seeds are heavy (  ≳10⁴ M_⊙  , direct collapse). In all the models we have investigated, MBH binary coalescences do not produce a stochastic GW background, but rather, a set of individual resolved events. Detection of several hundreds merging events in a 3-yr LISA mission will be the sign of a heavy seed scenario with efficient formation of black hole seeds in a large fraction of high-redshift haloes. At the other extreme, a low event rate, about a few tens in 3 yr, is peculiar of scenarios where either the seeds are light, and many coalescences do not fall into the LISA band, or seeds are massive, but rare. In this case a decisive diagnostic is provided by the shape of the mass distribution of detected events. Light binaries  ( m < 10⁴ M_⊙)  are predicted in a fairly large number in Population III remnant models, but are totally absent in direct collapse models. Finally, a further, helpful diagnostic of black hole formation models lies in the distribution of the mass ratios in binary coalescences. While heavy seed models predict that most of the detected events involve equal-mass binaries, in the case of light seeds, mass ratios are equally distributed in the range 0.1–1.     

The Bullet Cluster 1E0657-558 evidence shows modified gravity in the absence of dark matter

A detailed analysis of the 2006 November 15 data release X-ray surface density Σ-map and the strong and weak gravitational lensing convergence κ-map for the Bullet Cluster 1E0657-558 is performed and the results are compared with the predictions of a modified gravity (MOG) and dark matter. Our surface density Σ-model is computed using a King β-model density, and a mass profile of the main cluster and an isothermal temperature profile are determined by the MOG. We find that the main cluster thermal profile is nearly isothermal. The MOG prediction of the isothermal temperature of the main cluster is   T = 15.5 ± 3.9 keV  , in good agreement with the experimental value   T = 14.8^+2.0_−1.7 keV  . Excellent fits to the 2D convergence κ-map data are obtained without non-baryonic dark matter, accounting for the 8σ spatial offset between the Σ-map and the κ-map reported in Clowe et al. The MOG prediction for the κ-map results in two baryonic components distributed across the Bullet Cluster 1E0657-558 with averaged mass fraction of 83 per cent intracluster medium (ICM) gas and 17 per cent galaxies. Conversely, the Newtonian dark matter κ-model has on average 76 per cent dark matter (neglecting the indeterminant contribution due to the galaxies) and 24 per cent ICM gas for a baryon to dark matter mass fraction of 0.32, a statistically significant result when compared to the predicted Λ-cold dark matter cosmological baryon mass fraction of 0.176^+0.019_−0.012.     

在后牛顿引力理论(PPN形式)中引力常数变化对地球自转产生的效应

介绍和论述了在后牛顿引力理论(PPN形式)中在优越参考系和非优越参考系中经过参数化后引力常数变化对地球自转产生的效应,其中特别重点介绍了年周期变化的效应。此外也将理论结果同观测结果相对比。