Issue |
A&A
Volume 565, May 2014
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A28 | |
Number of page(s) | 8 | |
Section | Cosmology (including clusters of galaxies) | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201323022 | |
Published online | 29 April 2014 |
The strongest gravitational lenses
III. The order statistics of the largest Einstein radii
1
Blue Yonder GmbH, Karlsruher Strasse 88,
76139
Karlsruhe,
Germany
e-mail:
jean-claude.waizmann@blue-yonder.com
2
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di
Bologna, viale Berti Pichat
6/2, 40127
Bologna,
Italy
3
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, via Ranzani 1,
40127
Bologna,
Italy
4
INFN, Sezione di Bologna, viale Berti Pichat 6/2,
40127
Bologna,
Italy
5
Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Institut für
Theoretische Astrophysik , Albert-Ueberle-Str. 2, 69120
Heidelberg,
Germany
6
Jet Propulsion Laboratory , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena
CA
91109,
USA
Received:
10
November
2013
Accepted:
12
February
2014
Context. The Einstein radius of a gravitational lens is a key characteristic. It encodes information about decisive quantities such as halo mass, concentration, triaxiality, and orientation with respect to the observer. Therefore, the largest Einstein radii can potentially be utilised to test the predictions of the ΛCDM model.
Aims. Hitherto, studies have focussed on the single largest observed Einstein radius. We extend those studies by employing order statistics to formulate exclusion criteria based on the n largest Einstein radii and apply these criteria to the strong lensing analysis of 12 MACS clusters at z> 0.5.
Methods. We obtain the order statistics of Einstein radii by a Monte Carlo approach, based on the semi-analytic modelling of the halo population on the past lightcone. After sampling the order statistics, we fit a general extreme value distribution to the first-order distribution, which allows us to derive analytic relations for the order statistics of the Einstein radii.
Results. We find that the Einstein radii of the 12 MACS clusters are not in conflict with the ΛCDM expectations. Our exclusion criteria indicate that, in order to exhibit tension with the concordance model, one would need to observe approximately twenty Einstein radii with θeff ≳ 30″, ten with θeff ≳ 35″, five with θeff ≳ 42″, or one with θeff ≳ 74″ in the redshift range 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 1.0 on the full sky (assuming a source redshift of zs = 2). Furthermore, we find that, with increasing order, the haloes with the largest Einstein radii are on average less aligned along the line-of-sight and less triaxial. In general, the cumulative distribution functions steepen for higher orders, giving them better constraining power.
Conclusions. A framework that allows the individual and joint order distributions of the n-largest Einstein radii to be derived is presented. From a statistical point of view, we do not see any evidence of an Einstein ring problem even for the largest Einstein radii of the studied MACS sample. This conclusion is consolidated by the large uncertainties that enter the lens modelling and to which the largest Einstein radii are particularly sensitive.
Key words: gravitational lensing: strong / methods: statistical / galaxies: clusters: general / cosmology: miscellaneous
© ESO, 2014
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.