Imaging the invisible : constraining dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters using strong gravitational lensing
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2005.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2006
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32839 |
| _version_ | 1826212937866412032 |
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| author | Corless, Virginia Leigh |
| author2 | Samuel A. Rappaport and Scott M. Burles. |
| author_facet | Samuel A. Rappaport and Scott M. Burles. Corless, Virginia Leigh |
| author_sort | Corless, Virginia Leigh |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2005. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:40:31Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/32839 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:40:31Z |
| publishDate | 2006 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/328392019-04-12T09:13:35Z Imaging the invisible : constraining dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters using strong gravitational lensing Constraining dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters using strong gravitational lensing Corless, Virginia Leigh Samuel A. Rappaport and Scott M. Burles. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics. Physics. Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2005. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-72). In this thesis, I design and construct a Monte-Carlo gravitational lensing simulation that statistically studies the strong lensing of extended galactic sources by dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters, using recent work on cluster Abell 1689 as an empirical guide. By quantitatively comparing the quality of the lensed images created in the simulation to the giant lensed arcs observed by the Hubble Space Telescope around Abell 1689 and other similar clusters, and using an NFW analytic density profile to model the overall dark matter distribution, an upper limit is set on the scale of allowed deviations from a smooth NFW dark matter distribution. The maximum allowed mass-clumping is found to be on the order [approx.] 10⁸ M ... over volumes of order [approx.] 10kpc x 10kpc x 10kpc, indicative of a mostly smooth dark matter distribution with only relatively small deviations, much smaller than those of the distribution of conventional matter into galaxies. by Virginia Leigh Corless. S.B. 2006-05-15T20:33:48Z 2006-05-15T20:33:48Z 2005 2005 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32839 61357032 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 72 leaves 2821385 bytes 2824006 bytes application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Physics. Corless, Virginia Leigh Imaging the invisible : constraining dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters using strong gravitational lensing |
| title | Imaging the invisible : constraining dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters using strong gravitational lensing |
| title_full | Imaging the invisible : constraining dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters using strong gravitational lensing |
| title_fullStr | Imaging the invisible : constraining dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters using strong gravitational lensing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Imaging the invisible : constraining dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters using strong gravitational lensing |
| title_short | Imaging the invisible : constraining dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters using strong gravitational lensing |
| title_sort | imaging the invisible constraining dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters using strong gravitational lensing |
| topic | Physics. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32839 |
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