GALAXY-SCALE STRONG-LENSING TESTS OF GRAVITY AND GEOMETRIC COSMOLOGY: CONSTRAINTS AND SYSTEMATIC LIMITATIONS
Galaxy-scale strong gravitational lenses with measured stellar velocity dispersions allow a test of the weak-field metric on kiloparsec scales and a geometric measurement of the cosmological distance-redshift relation, provided that the mass-dynamical structure of the lensing galaxies can be indepen...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Astronomical Society
2010
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/52650 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3182-5569 |
| _version_ | 1826200966091767808 |
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| author | Bolton, Adam S. Schwab, J. Rappaport, Saul A |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Bolton, Adam S. Schwab, J. Rappaport, Saul A |
| author_sort | Bolton, Adam S. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Galaxy-scale strong gravitational lenses with measured stellar velocity dispersions allow a test of the weak-field metric on kiloparsec scales and a geometric measurement of the cosmological distance-redshift relation, provided that the mass-dynamical structure of the lensing galaxies can be independently constrained to a sufficient degree. We combine data on 53 galaxy-scale strong lenses from the Sloan Lens ACS Survey with a well-motivated fiducial set of lens-galaxy parameters to find (1) a constraint on the post-Newtonian parameter γ = 1.01 ± 0.05, and (2) a determination of ΩΛ = 0.75 ± 0.17 under the assumption of a flat universe. These constraints assume that the underlying observations and priors are free of systematic error. We evaluate the sensitivity of these results to systematic uncertainties in (1) total mass-profile shape, (2) velocity anisotropy, (3) light-profile shape, and (4) stellar velocity dispersion. Based on these sensitivities, we conclude that while such strong-lens samples can, in principle, provide an important tool for testing general relativity and cosmology, they are unlikely to yield precision measurements of γ and Ω[subscript Λ] unless the properties of the lensing galaxies are independently constrained with substantially greater accuracy than at present. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:44:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/52650 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:44:31Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | American Astronomical Society |
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| spelling | mit-1721.1/526502022-10-01T05:40:29Z GALAXY-SCALE STRONG-LENSING TESTS OF GRAVITY AND GEOMETRIC COSMOLOGY: CONSTRAINTS AND SYSTEMATIC LIMITATIONS Bolton, Adam S. Schwab, J. Rappaport, Saul A Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Rappaport, Saul A. Schwab, Josiah Rappaport, Saul A. Galaxy-scale strong gravitational lenses with measured stellar velocity dispersions allow a test of the weak-field metric on kiloparsec scales and a geometric measurement of the cosmological distance-redshift relation, provided that the mass-dynamical structure of the lensing galaxies can be independently constrained to a sufficient degree. We combine data on 53 galaxy-scale strong lenses from the Sloan Lens ACS Survey with a well-motivated fiducial set of lens-galaxy parameters to find (1) a constraint on the post-Newtonian parameter γ = 1.01 ± 0.05, and (2) a determination of ΩΛ = 0.75 ± 0.17 under the assumption of a flat universe. These constraints assume that the underlying observations and priors are free of systematic error. We evaluate the sensitivity of these results to systematic uncertainties in (1) total mass-profile shape, (2) velocity anisotropy, (3) light-profile shape, and (4) stellar velocity dispersion. Based on these sensitivities, we conclude that while such strong-lens samples can, in principle, provide an important tool for testing general relativity and cosmology, they are unlikely to yield precision measurements of γ and Ω[subscript Λ] unless the properties of the lensing galaxies are independently constrained with substantially greater accuracy than at present. 2010-03-17T14:21:20Z 2010-03-17T14:21:20Z 2010-01 2009-07 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0004-637X http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/52650 Rappaport, Saul A., Adam S. Bolton, and Josiah Schwab. “GALAXY-SCALE STRONG-LENSING TESTS OF GRAVITY AND GEOMETRIC COSMOLOGY: CONSTRAINTS AND SYSTEMATIC LIMITATIONS*.” The Astrophysical Journal 708.1: 750-757. © 2010 The American Astronomical Society https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3182-5569 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/708/1/750 Astrophysical Journal Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Astronomical Society S. Rappaport |
| spellingShingle | Bolton, Adam S. Schwab, J. Rappaport, Saul A GALAXY-SCALE STRONG-LENSING TESTS OF GRAVITY AND GEOMETRIC COSMOLOGY: CONSTRAINTS AND SYSTEMATIC LIMITATIONS |
| title | GALAXY-SCALE STRONG-LENSING TESTS OF GRAVITY AND GEOMETRIC COSMOLOGY: CONSTRAINTS AND SYSTEMATIC LIMITATIONS |
| title_full | GALAXY-SCALE STRONG-LENSING TESTS OF GRAVITY AND GEOMETRIC COSMOLOGY: CONSTRAINTS AND SYSTEMATIC LIMITATIONS |
| title_fullStr | GALAXY-SCALE STRONG-LENSING TESTS OF GRAVITY AND GEOMETRIC COSMOLOGY: CONSTRAINTS AND SYSTEMATIC LIMITATIONS |
| title_full_unstemmed | GALAXY-SCALE STRONG-LENSING TESTS OF GRAVITY AND GEOMETRIC COSMOLOGY: CONSTRAINTS AND SYSTEMATIC LIMITATIONS |
| title_short | GALAXY-SCALE STRONG-LENSING TESTS OF GRAVITY AND GEOMETRIC COSMOLOGY: CONSTRAINTS AND SYSTEMATIC LIMITATIONS |
| title_sort | galaxy scale strong lensing tests of gravity and geometric cosmology constraints and systematic limitations |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/52650 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3182-5569 |
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