Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21721302b&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #213.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
Strong lensing by galaxy clusters is a phenomenon that touches on a variety of areas in astrophysics and cosmology. Strong lensing probes the detailed matter distribution in the cores of the lensing clusters, which informs studies of the structure and formation histories of clusters. The ensemble statistics of cluster-scale strong lensing also provide a powerful test for cosmological and large-scale structure models in a way that complements studies of the evolution of structure that rely on counting clusters as a function of mass and redshift. Additionally, cluster lenses serve as natural telescopes and magnify the distant universe behind them. In spite of their great promise galaxy cluster lenses are extraordinarily rare, and this fact has historically limited their usefulness. In order to overcome the limitations imposed by the small and heterogeneously selected samples of strong lensing clusters available for study, we have systematically searched two large optical imaging survey - the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey 2 (RCS2) for galaxy clusters which distort background galaxies into Giant Arcs via strong gravitational lensing. In each survey we identify hundreds of high-confidence cluster lens candidates, with an aggregate sample of approximately 200 well-selected systems having giant arcs with average separations of at least 5 arcseconds from the BCG/core of the foreground cluster lens. I will discuss the methods used to identify this unprecedented new lens sample, as well as the results of the initial stages of follow-up imaging and spectroscopy aimed at characterizing the properties of the sample - both the foreground cluster lenses as well as the background lensed sources
Bayliss Matthew
Gladders Michael D.
Hennawi Joseph F.
Koester Benjamin P.
Sharon Keren
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