

Astronomy and Astrophysics (Impact Factor: 5.08). 03/2008; DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:200809866
Source: arXiv

ABSTRACT Gravitationally lensed quasars can be used to map the mass distribution in lensing galaxies and to estimate the Hubble constant H0 by measuring the time delays between the quasar images. Here we report the measurement of two independent time delays in the quadruply imaged quasar WFI J2033-4723 (z = 1.66). Our data consist of R-band images obtained with the Swiss 1.2 m EULER telescope located at La Silla and with the 1.3 m SMARTS telescope located at Cerro Tololo. The light curves have 218 independent epochs spanning 3 full years of monitoring between March 2004 and May 2007, with a mean temporal sampling of one observation every 4th day. We measure the time delays using three different techniques, and we obtain Dt(B-A) = 35.5 +- 1.4 days (3.8%) and Dt(B-C) = 62.6 +4.1/-2.3 days (+6.5%/-3.7%), where A is a composite of the close, merging image pair. After correcting for the time delays, we find R-band flux ratios of F_A/F_B = 2.88 +- 0.04, F_A/F_C = 3.38 +- 0.06, and F_A1/F_A2 = 1.37 +- 0.05 with no evidence for microlensing variability over a time scale of three years. However, these flux ratios do not agree with those measured in the quasar emission lines, suggesting that longer term microlensing is present. Our estimate of H0 agrees with the concordance value: non-parametric modeling of the lensing galaxy predicts H0 = 67 +13/-10 km s-1 Mpc-1, while the Single Isothermal Sphere model yields H0 = 63 +7/-3 km s-1 Mpc-1 (68% confidence level). More complex lens models using a composite de Vaucouleurs plus NFW galaxy mass profile show twisting of the mass isocontours in the lensing galaxy, as do the non-parametric models. As all models also require a significant external shear, this suggests that the lens is a member of the group of galaxies seen in field of view of WFI J2033-4723. Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, published in A&A

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    ABSTRACT: The basis for a new model of gravitation is presented, as are its basic cosmological consequences. Gravity is conceived as a process of outward movement of matter and space whose cumulative effect is the exponential expansion of the Universe. In the cosmological extreme the model thus resembles Masreliez's Expanding Spacetime Theory. [1] Unlike the latter theory, the new model predicts novel effects that can be tested in a modest laboratory. The next most noteworthy feature of the model is that it gives new meaning to the well-known "large numbers coincidences." This new ap-proach encompasses a broader range of physical reality than usual, including now the cosmic background radiation and the density of atomic nuclei.
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    ABSTRACT: The current standard time delay formula (CSTD) in gravitational lensing and its claimed relation to the lens equation through Fermat's principle (least time principle) have been puzzling to the author for some time. We find that the so-called geometric path difference term of the CSTD is an error, and it causes a double counting of the correct time delay. We examined the deflection angle and the time delay of a photon trajectory in the Schwarzschild metric that allows exact perturbative calculations in the gravitational parameter $GM$ in two coordinate systems -- the standard Schwarzschild coordinate system and the isotropic Schwarzschild coordinate system. We identify a coordinate dependent term in the time delay which becomes irrelevant for the arrival time difference of two images. It deems necessary to sort out unambiguously what is what we measure. We calculate the second order corrections for the deflection angle and time delay. The CSTD does generate correct lens equations including multiple scattering lens equations under the variations and may be best understood as a generating function. It is presently unclear what the significance is. We call to reanalyze the existing strong lensing data with time delays.
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    ABSTRACT: We present accurate time delays for the quadruply imaged quasar HE 0435-1223, from the COSMOGRAIL collaboration. A new way of turning the delays into H0 is proposed, using Nbody realisations of the lensing galaxy. The delays are measured from 575 independent photometric points obtained between January 2004 and March 2010. With 6 years of data, we clearly show that quasar image A is affected by strong microlensing variations and that the time delays are best expressed relative to quasar image B. We measure delta_t(BA) = 8.4+/-2.1 days, delta_t(BC) = 7.8+/-0.8 days and delta_t(BD) = -6.5+/-0.7 days. HST NICMOS2 images are deconvolved in order to derive accurate astrometry of the quasar images and to infer the light profile of the lensing galaxy. In combination with VLT spectroscopy of the lens, the HST images are used to estimate the baryonic fraction, fb, in the Einstein radius. We measure fb = 0.65+0.13-0.10 if the lensing galaxy has a Kroupa IMF and fb = 0.45+0.04-0.07 if it has a Salpeter IMF. N-body realisations of the lensing galaxy are used to infer its dark matter profile, given the measured rest-frame stellar velocity dispersion, sigma_ap = 222+/-34 km/s and the baryonic fraction. These dynamical models and baryonic fraction are also required to match the lensing observables. We find that only the lensing galaxies with Kroupa IMF match all the data simultaneously. Using the time delays to estimate the Hubble constant under this assumption leads to H0 = 62+6-4 km/s/Mpc. While the relatively small formal error bars reflect the high potential of the method to provide an accurate estimate of H0, the value itself might be revised when new observational constraints are available, in particular a high precision velocity dispersion measurement (or velocity dispersion profile) of the lens and a measurement of the external shear, from integral-field spectroscopy and/or deep X-ray images.

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