Differential Microlensing of the Continuum and Broad Emission Lines in SDSS J0924+0219, the Most Anomalous Lensed Quasar

Abstract

SDSS J0924+0219 is the most glaring example of a gravitational lens with anomalous flux ratios: optical broad-band photometry shows image D to be a factor of 12 fainter than expected for smooth lens potentials. We report spectroscopy showing that the anomaly is present in the broad emission line flux ratios as well. There are differences between the emission line and continuum flux ratios: the A/D ratio is 10 in the broad Lyman-alpha line and 19 in the associated continuum. Known variability argues for the presence of microlensing. We show that microlensing can account for both the continuum and emission line flux ratios, if the broad emission line region is comparable in size to the Einstein radii of the microlenses. Specifically, we need the half-light radius of the broad-line region to be R_BLR <~ 0.4 Rein ~ 9$ lt-days, which is small but reasonable. If the broad-line region is that large, then stars can contribute only 15-20% of the surface mass density at the positions of the images. While we cannot exclude the possibility that millilensing by dark matter substructure is present as well, we conclude that microlensing is present and sufficient to explain existing data. Under this hypothesis, the A/D flux ratio should return to a value close to unity on a time scale of years rather than millennia.