A new independent limit on the cosmological constant/dark energy from the relativistic bending of light by Galaxies and clusters of Galaxies |
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Authors: | M Ishak W Rindler † J Dossett J Moldenhauer C Allison |
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Institution: | Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75083, USA |
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Abstract: | We derive new limits on the value of the cosmological constant, Λ, based on the Einstein bending of light by systems where the lens is a distant galaxy or a cluster of galaxies. We use an amended lens equation in which the contribution of Λ to the Einstein deflection angle is taken into account and use observations of Einstein radii around several lens systems. We use in our calculations a Schwarzschild–de Sitter vacuole exactly matched into a Friedmann–Robertson–Walker background and show that a Λ-contribution term appears in the deflection angle within the lens equation. We find that the contribution of the Λ-term to the bending angle is larger than the second-order term for many lens systems. Using these observations of bending angles, we derive new limits on the value of Λ. These limits constitute the best observational upper bound on Λ after cosmological constraints and are only two orders of magnitude away from the value determined by those cosmological constraints. |
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Keywords: | gravitation gravitational lensing cosmology: theory |
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