Halo concentration strengthens dark matter constraints in galaxy–galaxy strong lensing analyses

Amorisco, Nicola C.; Nightingale, J. W.; He, Qiuhan; Amvrosiadis, Aristeidis; Cao, Xiaoyue; Cole, Shaun; Etherington, Amy; Frenk, Carlos S.; Li, Ran; Massey, Richard; Robertson, Andrew

doi:10.1093/mnras/stab3527

Cited by 28 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…An independent study of the sensitivity function using PYAU-TOLENS is provided by Amorisco et al ( 2022 ). This work reassuringly reaches the same conclusion as us on the dependence of the sensitivity function on the redshift of the perturbing halo, despite using a different approach to calculate the sensitivity function and mock strong lens data sets with different properties.…”

supporting

confidence: 66%

Galaxy–galaxy strong lens perturbations: line-of-sight haloes versus lens subhaloes

Frenk

et al. 2022

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We rederive the number density of intervening line-of-sight haloes relative to lens subhaloes in galaxy-galaxy strong lensing observations, where these perturbers can generate detectable image fluctuations. Previous studies have calculated the detection limit of a line-of-sight small-mass dark halo by comparing the lensing deflection angles it would cause, to those caused by a subhalo within the lens. However, this overly simplifies the difference in observational consequences between a subhalo and a line-of-sight halo. Furthermore, it does not take into account degeneracies between an extra subhalo and the uncertain properties of the main lens. More in keeping with analyses of real-world observations, we regard a line-of-sight halo as detectable only if adding it to a smooth model generates a statistically significant improvement in the reconstructed image. We find that the number density of detectable line-of-sight perturbers has been overestimated by as much as a factor of two in the previous literature. For typical lensing geometries and configurations, very deep imaging is sensitive to twice as many line-of-sight perturbers as subhaloes, but moderate depth imaging is sensitive to only slightly more line-of-sight perturbers than subhaloes.

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supporting

confidence: 66%

Galaxy–galaxy strong lens perturbations: line-of-sight haloes versus lens subhaloes

Frenk

et al. 2022

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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“…Furthermore, because the decomposed model uses the stellar light as additional information which constrains the mass model, this may further boost one's sensitivity to subhaloes by reducing the degeneracy between the lens galaxy's mass model and subhalo. This will require that sensitivity mapping of a strong lens, which quantifies what mass subhaloes one will detect if truly present in the data (Despali et al 2020;He et al 2021;Amorisco et al 2022), is performed using the decomposed model, as opposed to the power law model assumed in previous studies. The same level of care will be necessary in understanding how robust assumptions associated with the M/L and dark matter are.…”

Section: Subhalo Sensitivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing strong lensing subhalo detection with a cosmological simulation

He¹,

Nightingale²,

Massey³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Strong gravitational lensing offers a compelling test of the cold dark matter paradigm, as it allows for subhaloes with masses of ∼ 10 9 M and below to be detected. We test commonly-used techniques for detecting dark matter subhaloes superposed in images of strongly lensed galaxies. For the lens we take a simulated galaxy in a ∼ 10 13 M halo grown in a high-resolution cosmological hydrodynamics simulation, which we view from two different directions. To remove particle noise, we represent the projected galaxy mass distribution by a series of analytic Gaussian profiles which precisely capture the features of the projected galaxy. We first model the lens mass as a broken power-law density profile (the parameterization of which includes a core ensuring the results are unaffected by a numerical central core in the simulated galaxy) and then search for small haloes. Of the two projections, one has a regular elliptical shape, while the other has distinct deviations from an elliptical shape. For the former, the broken power-law model gives no false positives and correctly recovers the mass of the superposed small halo, but for the latter we do find false positives and the inferred halo mass is overestimated by a factor of ∼ 4 − 5. We then replace the broken power-law model by a more complex model in which the lens mass is decomposed into separate stellar and dark matter components. In this case, we show that we can precisely capture the complex projected structures of the simulated galaxy and correctly infer the input parameters of the superposed small halo. By improving the lens galaxy mass model, we argue this enables more robust subhalo inference that can detect lower mass dark matter subhaloes, strengthening the technique's ability to test alternative models of dark matter which do not form dark matter subhaloes below a cut-off mass.

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“…The abundance and density profiles of subhalos and line-of-sight halos impact the flux ratios, and as such, these data can test any dark matter theory that alters the overall abundance or density profile of halos (e.g. Banik et al 2019;Vegetti et al 2018;Hsueh et al 2020;Despali et al 2020;Gilman et al 2020aGilman et al , 2021Minor et al 2021;Amorisco et al 2022;Zelko et al 2022), as well as the primordial matter power spectrum that set the initial conditions for structure formation (Gilman et al 2022). Existing analyses of quads use these data to detect individual halos (Nierenberg et al 2014(Nierenberg et al , 2017, and to study entire populations of objects (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Quantum fluctuations masquerade as halos: Bounds on ultra-light dark matter from quadruply-imaged quasars

Alexander¹,

Gilman²,

Li³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Ultra-light dark matter (ULDM) refers to a class of theories, including ultra-light axions, in which particles with mass 𝑚 𝜓 < 10 −20 eV comprise a significant fraction of the dark matter. A galactic scale de Broglie wavelength distinguishes these theories from cold dark matter (CDM), suppressing the overall abundance of structure on sub-galactic scales, and producing wave-like interference phenomena in the density profiles of halos. With the aim of constraining the particle mass, we analyze the flux ratios in a sample of eleven quadruple-image strong gravitational lenses. We account for the suppression of the halo mass function and concentration-mass relation predicted by ULDM theories, and the wave-like fluctuations in the host halo density profile, calibrating the model for the wave interference against numerical simulations of galactic-scale halos. We show that the granular structure of halo density profiles, in particular, the amplitude of the fluctuations, significantly impacts image flux ratios, and therefore inferences on the particle mass derived from these data. We infer relative likelihoods of CDM to ULDM

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Halo concentration strengthens dark matter constraints in galaxy–galaxy strong lensing analyses

Cited by 28 publications

References 63 publications

Galaxy–galaxy strong lens perturbations: line-of-sight haloes versus lens subhaloes

Galaxy–galaxy strong lens perturbations: line-of-sight haloes versus lens subhaloes

Testing strong lensing subhalo detection with a cosmological simulation

Quantum fluctuations masquerade as halos: Bounds on ultra-light dark matter from quadruply-imaged quasars

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