The Effect Of Environment On Shear In Strong Gravitational Lenses

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dc.contributor.utaustinauthorWilliams, Kurtis A.en_US
dc.creatorWong, Kenneth C.en_US
dc.creatorKeeton, Charles R.en_US
dc.creatorWilliams, Kurtis A.en_US
dc.creatorMomcheva, Ivelina G.en_US
dc.creatorZabludoff, Ann I.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-28T19:40:01Z
dc.date.available2016-04-28T19:40:01Z
dc.date.issued2011-01en
dc.description.abstractUsing new photometric and spectroscopic data in the fields of nine strong gravitational lenses that lie in galaxy groups, we analyze the effects of both the local group environment and line-of-sight (LOS) galaxies on the lens potential. We use Monte Carlo simulations to derive the shear directly from measurements of the complex lens environment, providing the first detailed independent check of the shear obtained from lens modeling. We account for possible tidal stripping of the group galaxies by varying the fraction of total mass apportioned between the group dark matter halo and individual group galaxies. The environment produces an average shear of gamma = 0.08 (ranging from 0.02 to 0.17), significant enough to affect quantities derived from lens observables. However, the direction and magnitude of the shears do not match those obtained from lens modeling in three of the six four-image systems in our sample (B1422, RXJ1131, and WFI2033). The source of this disagreement is not clear, implying that the assumptions inherent in both the environment and lens model approaches must be reconsidered. If only the local group environment of the lens is included, the average shear is gamma = 0.05 (ranging from 0.01 to 0.14), indicating that LOS contributions to the lens potential are not negligible. We isolate the effects of various theoretical and observational uncertainties on our results. Of those uncertainties, the scatter in the Faber-Jackson relation and error in the group centroid position dominate. Future surveys of lens environments should prioritize spectroscopic sampling of both the local lens environment and objects along the LOS, particularly those bright (I < 21.5) galaxies projected within 5' of the lens.en_US
dc.description.departmentAstronomyen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipNSF AST-0602288, AST-0747311en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipMax-Planck-Institut fur Astronomieen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipCenter for Cosmology and Particle Physics at New York Universityen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.15781/T26244
dc.identifier.Filename2011_01_stronggravitationallenses.pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationWong, Kenneth C., Charles R. Keeton, Kurtis A. Williams, Ivelina G. Momcheva, and Ann I. Zabludoff. "The Effect of Environment on Shear in Strong Gravitational Lenses." The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 726, No. 2 (Jan., 2011): 84.en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1088/0004-637x/726/2/84en_US
dc.identifier.issn0004-637Xen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/35065
dc.language.isoEnglishen_US
dc.relation.ispartofen_US
dc.relation.ispartofserialAstrophysical Journalen_US
dc.rightsAdministrative deposit of works to Texas ScholarWorks: This works author(s) is or was a University faculty member, student or staff member; this article is already available through open access or the publisher allows a PDF version of the article to be freely posted online. The library makes the deposit as a matter of fair use (for scholarly, educational, and research purposes), and to preserve the work and further secure public access to the works of the University.en_US
dc.rights.restrictionOpenen_US
dc.subjectgravitational lensing: strongen_US
dc.subjectearly-type galaxiesen_US
dc.subjectoptical einstein ringen_US
dc.subjectdark-matter substructureen_US
dc.subjectdigital sky surveyen_US
dc.subjectlarge-scale structureen_US
dc.subjecttime delaysen_US
dc.subjectacs surveyen_US
dc.subjectx-rayen_US
dc.subjectfundamental planeen_US
dc.subjectkeck spectroscopyen_US
dc.subjectastronomy & astrophysicsen_US
dc.titleThe Effect Of Environment On Shear In Strong Gravitational Lensesen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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