arXiv subjects

Anna Barnacka

Publications and source records attributed to Anna Barnacka.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Speeding up Gravitational Lens Mass Models with Machine Learning: Applications in X-ray Astronomy

Multi-wavelength observations of quadruply lensed quasars constitute a powerful probe of cosmology, dark matter substructure along the line of sight, and the structure of X-ray emitting regions in high-redshift quasars. These investigations are conditional on acquiring an accurate model for the surface mass density of matter lensing these quasars. We propose a simulation-based machine learning method to accelerate parameter inference in real quadruply lensed systems by several orders of magnitude. We simulate a grid of quadruply lensed sources with Singular Isothermal Ellipsoid (SIE) lenses and use the projected positions of the four lensed images to train two fully connected neural networks that predict the mass parameter and ellipticity. For a large fraction of simulated systems, the neural network-initialised mass models converge in time-scales of a few minutes and recover the source position at the <0.''005 level for a broad range of lens masses and ellipticities. We apply our neural networks to seven quadruply lensed quasars, lensed by isolated galaxies or a galaxy-perturber pair, which have archival Chandra observations. The final optimised mass models for each quasar predict the observed lensed image positions in Gaia Data Release 3. These mass models enable the caustic method, which locates the X-ray-to-optical emission regions to milliarcsecond precision in these otherwise unresolvable systems, improving the effective angular resolution of Chandra at high-z by up to two orders of magnitude. Our approach accelerates this mass modelling by supplying informed initial parameters, enabling application to the many new quadruply lensed systems expected from forthcoming surveys.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Determining the spatial origin of X-ray and optical emission in the $z = 3.1$ strongly lensed radio-quiet quasar GraL J065904.1+162909 to hundreds of parsecs

We perform milliarcsecond X-ray astrometry of the quadruply lensed radio-quiet quasar GraL J065904.1+162909 (J0659). This $z = 3.083$ quasar is lensed into four images and was discovered with the second Data Release of the $Gaia$ Space Observatory ($Gaia$ DR2). Our J0659 study exploits strong gravitational lenses as high resolution telescopes. This technique shows promise to elucidate the origin of optical and X-ray emission in distant lensed quasars at spatial scales beyond the reach of current instruments. In our study, we use $Gaia$ DR3 and $HST$ observations of J0659 to infer a mass model for the deflector. Our model reproduces the $Gaia$ DR3 quasar lensed image positions to one milliarcsecond and determines the position of the optical source in J0659 to within this precision. Next, we analyze $Chandra$ observations of J0659 and conduct a Bayesian test evaluating whether the X-ray emission region coincides with the optical source. We then constrain the origin of the X-ray emission to within a $0.''020 \times 0.''010$ ellipse centered $0.''014$ away from the optical source at the $1\sigma$ level. We demonstrate that our approach can be extended to pinpoint the distinct origins of the soft and hard X-ray emission regions in lensed quasars. We discuss the potential of upcoming broadband and spectrally resolved X-ray astrometric studies to probe complex quasar morphology and AGN multiplicity at sub-kiloparsec scales otherwise inaccessible at high redshifts.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Milli-arcsec X-ray positions and X-ray varstrometry for the strongly lensed AGN HE 0435-1223

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are some of the most powerful objects in the Universe. For this reason, they can be observed up to high redshifts (z), giving valuable insights into the evolution of our Universe. However, high-z AGN are too distant to be spatially resolved with current or upcoming X-ray facilities. In this paper we show how we can exploit gravitationally lensed AGN to significantly increase spatial resolution even at high-z. We combine astrometric data from Gaia DR3 with imaging from the Chandra X-ray Observatory of the quadruply-lensed quasar HE 0435--1223 to measure for the first time possible offsets between the optical and the X-ray emissions. We measure the X-ray source position for HE 0435-1223 within a 1$\sigma$ quasi-elliptical region of 0.5 x 1.3 milli-arcsecond (mas), about 150 pc$^2$ at the redshift of the source (z=1.689). We find evidence for the X-ray emission being offset by a projected 3 mas from the Gaia (optical) emission. The positional offset is most likely associated to a portion of the X-ray emission arising from an X-ray jet or outflow. We also discuss how this method can be used to indicate the presence of a binary/offset AGN system.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Strongly Lensed Supermassive Black Hole Binaries as Nanohertz Gravitational-Wave Sources

Supermassive black hole binary systems (SMBHBs) should be the most powerful sources of gravitational waves (GWs) in the Universe. Once Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) detect the stochastic GW background from their cosmic merger history, searching for individually resolvable binaries will take on new importance. Since these individual SMBHBs are expected to be rare, here we explore how strong gravitational lensing can act as a tool for increasing their detection prospects by magnifying fainter sources and bringing them into view. Unlike for electromagnetic waves, when the geometric optics limit is nearly always valid, for GWs the wave-diffraction-interference effects can become important when the wavelength of the GWs is larger than the Schwarzchild radius of the lens, i.e. $M_{\rm lens} \sim 10^8\,(\frac{f}{mHz})^{-1}\,M_\odot$. For the GW frequency range explored in this work, the geometric optics limit holds. We investigate GW signals from SMBHBs that might be detectable with current and future PTAs under the assumption that quasars serve as bright beacons that signal a recent merger. Using the black hole mass function derived from quasars and a physically motivated magnification distribution, we expect to detect a few strongly lensed binary systems out to $z \approx 2$. Additionally, for a range of fixed magnifications $2 \leq \mu \leq 100$, strong lensing adds up to $\sim$30 more detectable binaries for PTAs. Finally, we investigate the possibility of observing both time-delayed electromagnetic signals and GW signals from these strongly lensed binary systems -- that will provide us with unprecedented multimessenger insights into their orbital evolution.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Resolving Complex Inner X-ray Structure of the Gravitationaly Lensed AGN MGB2016+112

We use a Chandra X-ray observation of the gravitationally lensed system MGB2016+112 at z=3.273 to elucidate presence of at least two X-ray sources. We find that these sources are consistent with the VLBI components measured by \citet{Spingola19}, which are separated by $\sim 200$ pc. Their intrinsic 0.5 -- 7 keV source frame luminosities are 2.6$\times$10$^{43}$ and 4.2$\times$10$^{44}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Most likely this system contains a dual active galactic nucleus (AGN), but we possibly are detecting an AGN plus a pc-scale X-ray jet, the latter lying in a region at very high magnification. The quadruply lensed X-ray source is within $\pm$40 pc (1$\sigma$) of its VLBI counterpart. Using a gravitational lens as a telescope, and a novel statistical application, we have achieved unprecedented accuracy for measuring metric distances at such large redshifts in X-ray astronomy, which is tens of mas if the source is located close to the caustics, while it is of hundreds of mas if the source is in a region at lower amplification. The present demonstration of this approach has implications for future X-ray investigations of large numbers of lensed systems.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Gravitational Lenses as High-Resolution Telescopes

The inner regions of active galaxies host the most extreme and energetic phenomena in the universe including, relativistic jets, supermassive black hole binaries, and recoiling supermassive black holes. However, many of these sources cannot be resolved with direct observations. I review how strong gravitational lensing can be used to elucidate the structures of these sources from radio frequencies up to very high energy gamma rays. The deep gravitational potentials surrounding galaxies act as natural gravitational lenses. These gravitational lenses split background sources into multiple images, each with a gravitationally-induced time delay. These time delays and positions of lensed images depend on the source location, and thus, can be used to infer the spatial origins of the emission. For example, using gravitationally-induced time delays improves angular resolution of modern gamma-ray instruments by six orders of magnitude, and provides evidence that gamma-ray outbursts can be produced at even thousands of light years from a supermassive black hole, and that the compact radio emission does not always trace the position of the supermassive black hole. These findings provide unique physical information about the central structure of active galaxies, force us to revise our models of operating particle acceleration mechanisms, and challenge our assumptions about the origin of compact radio emission. Future surveys, including LSST, SKA, and Euclid, will provide observations for hundreds of thousands of gravitationally lensed sources, which will allow us to apply strong gravitational lensing to study the multi-wavelength structure for large ensembles of sources. This large ensemble of gravitationally lensed active galaxies will allow us to elucidate the physical origins of multi-wavelength emissions, their connections to supermassive black holes, and their cosmic evolution.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Galaxies as High-Resolution Telescopes

Recent observations show a population of active galaxies with milliarcseconds offsets between optical and radio emission. Such offsets can be an indication of extreme phenomena associated with supermassive black holes including relativistic jets, binary supermassive black holes, or even recoiling supermassive black holes. However, the multi-wavelength structure of active galaxies at a few milliarcseconds cannot be fathomed with direct observations. We propose using strong gravitational lensing to elucidate the multi-wavelength structure of sources. When sources are located close to the caustic of lensing galaxy, even small offset in the position of the sources results in a drastic difference in the position and magnification of mirage images. We show that the angular offset in the position of the sources can be amplified more than 50 times in the observed position of mirage images. We find that at least 8% of the observed gravitationally lensed quasars will be in the caustic configuration. The synergy between SKA and Euclid will provide an ideal set of observations for thousands of gravitationally lensed sources in the caustic configuration, which will allow us to elucidate the multi-wavelength structure for a large ensemble of sources, and study the physical origin of radio emissions, their connection to supermassive black holes, and their cosmic evolution.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

The Structure of the Strongly Lensed Gamma-ray Source B2 0218+35

Strong gravitational lensing is a powerful tool for resolving the high energy universe. We combine the temporal resolution of Fermi-LAT, the angular resolution of radio telescopes, and the independently and precisely known Hubble constant from Planck, to resolve the spatial origin of gamma-ray flares in the strongly lensed source B2 0218+35. The lensing model achieves 1 milliarcsecond spatial resolution of the source at gamma-ray energies. The data imply that the gamma-ray flaring sites are separate from the radio core: the bright gamma-ray flare (MJD: 56160 - 56280) occurred $51\pm8$ pc from the 15 GHz radio core, toward the central engine. This displacement is significant at the $\sim3\sigma$ level, and is limited primarily by the precision of the Hubble constant. B2 0218+35 is the first source where the position of the gamma-ray emitting region relative to the radio core can be resolved. We discuss the potential of an ensemble of strongly lensed high energy sources for elucidating the physics of distant variable sources based on data from Chandra and SKA.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Resolving the High Energy Universe with Strong Gravitational Lensing: The Case of PKS 1830-211

Gravitational lensing is a potentially powerful tool for elucidating the origin of gamma-ray emission from distant sources. Cosmic lenses magnify the emission from distance sources and produce time delays between mirage images. Gravitationally-induced time delays depend on the position of the emitting regions in the source plane. The Fermi/LAT satellite continuously monitors the entire sky and detects gamma-ray flares, including those from gravitationally-lensed blazars. Therefore, temporal resolution at gamma-ray energies can be used to measure these time delays, which, in turn, can be used to resolve the origin of the gamma-ray flares spatially. We provide a guide to the application and Monte Carlo simulation of three techniques for analyzing these unresolved light curves: the Autocorrelation Function, the Double Power Spectrum, and the Maximum Peak Method. We apply these methods to derive time delays from the gamma-ray light curve of the gravitationally-lensed blazar PKS 1830-211. The result of temporal analysis combined with the properties of the lens from radio observations yield an improvement in spatial resolution at gamma-ray energies by a factor of 10000. We analyze four active periods. For two of these periods, the emission is consistent with origination from the core and for the other two, the data suggest that the emission region is displaced from the core by more that ~1.5 kpc. For the core emission, the gamma-ray time delays, $23\pm0.5$ days and $19.7\pm1.2$ days, are consistent with the radio time delay $26^{+4}_{-5}$ days.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

A size-duration trend for gamma-ray burst progenitors

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) show a bimodal distribution of durations, separated at a duration of ~2 s. Observations have confirmed the association of long GRBs with the collapse of massive stars. The origin of short GRBs is still being explored. We examine constraints on the emission region size in short and long GRBs detected by Fermi/GBM. We find that the emission region size during the prompt emission, R, and the burst duration, T$_{90}$, are consistent with the relation R ~ c x T$_{90}$, for both long and short GRBs. We find the characteristic size for the prompt emission region to be ~2 x 10$^{10}$ cm, and ~4 x 10$^{11}$ cm for short and long GRBs, respectively.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Strongly Lensed Jets, Time Delays, and the Value of H0

In principle, the most straightforward method of estimating the Hubble constant relies on time delays between mirage images of strongly-lensed sources. It is a puzzle, then, that the values of H0 obtained with this method span a range from 50 - 100 km/s/Mpc. Quasars monitored to measure these time delays, are multi-component objects. The variability may arise from different components of the quasar or may even originate from a jet. Misidentifying a variable emitting region in a jet with emission from the core region may introduce an error in the Hubble constant derived from a time delay. Here, we investigate the complex structure of sources as the underlying physical explanation of the widespread in values of the Hubble constant based on gravitational lensing. Our Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the derived value of the Hubble constant is very sensitive to the offset between the center of the emission and the center of the variable emitting region. Thus, we propose using the value of H0 known from other techniques to spatially resolve the origin of the variable emission once the time delay is measured. We advocate this method particularly for gamma-ray astronomy, where the angular resolution of detectors reaches approximately 0.1 degree; lensed blazars offer the only route for identify the origin of gamma-ray flares. Large future samples of gravitationally lensed sources identified with Euclid, SKA, and LSST will enable a statistical determination of H0.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

PKS 1510-089: a rare example of a flat spectrum radio quasar with a very high-energy emission

The blazar PKS 1510-089 is an example of flat spectrum radio quasars. High-energy emissions from this class of objects are believed to have been produced by inverse Compton radiation with seed photons originating from the broad line region. In such a paradigm, a lack of very high-energy emissions is expected because of the Klein-Nishina effect and strong absorption in the broad line region. Recent detection of at least three such blazars by Cherenkov telescopes has forced a revision of our understanding of these objects. We have aimed to model the observed spectral energy distribution of PKS 1510-089 from the high-energy flares in March 2009, during which very high-energy emission were also detected by H.E.S.S. We have applied the single-zone internal shock scenario to reproduce the multiwavelength spectrum of PKS~1510-089. We have followed the evolution of the electrons as they propagate along the jet and emit synchrotron and inverse Compton radiation. We have considered two sources of external photons: the dusty torus and the broad line region. We have also examined the effects of the gamma-gamma absorption of the high-energy photons both in the AGN environment (the broad line region and the dusty torus), as well as while traveling over cosmological distances: the extragalactic background light. We have successfully modeled the observed spectrum of PKS 1510-089. In our model, the highest energy emission is the result of the Comptonization of the infrared photons from the dusty torus, thus avoiding Klein-Nishina regime, while the bulk of the emissions in the GeV range may still be dominated by the Comptonization of radiation coming from the broad line region.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Strong gravitational lensing as a tool to investigate the structure of jets at high energies

The components of blazar jets that emit radiation span a factor of $10^{10}$ in scale. The spatial structure of these emitting regions depends on the observed energy. Photons emitted at different sites cross the lens plane at different distances from the mass-weighted center of the lens. Thus there are differences in magnification ratios and time delays between the images of lensed blazars observed at different energies. When the lens structure and redshift are known from optical observations, these constraints can elucidate the structure of the source at high energies. At these energies, current technology is inadequate to resolve these sources and the observed light curve is thus the sum of the images. Durations of $γ$-ray flares are short compared with typical time delays; thus both the magnification ratio and the time delay can be measured for the delayed counterparts. These measurements are a basis for localizing the emitting region along the jet. To demonstrate the power of strong gravitational lensing, we build a toy model based on the best studied and the nearest relativistic jet M87.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

How gravitational lensing helps gamma-ray photons avoid $\gamma - \gamma$ absorption

We investigate potential $\gamma-\gamma$ absorption of gamma-ray emission from blazars arising from inhomogeneities along the line of sight, beyond the diffuse Extragalactic Background Light (EBL). As plausible sources of excess $\gamma-\gamma$ opacity, we consider (1) foreground galaxies, including cases in which this configuration leads to strong gravitational lensing, (2) individual stars within these foreground galaxies, and (3) individual stars within our own galaxy, which may act as lenses for microlensing events. We found that intervening galaxies close to the line-of-sight are unlikely to lead to significant excess $\gamma-\gamma$ absorption. This opens up the prospect of detecting lensed gamma-ray blazars at energies above 10 GeV with their gamma-ray spectra effectively only affected by the EBL. The most luminous stars located either in intervening galaxy or in our galaxy provides an environment in which these gamma-rays could, in principle, be significantly absorbed. However, despite a large microlensing probability due to stars located in intervening galaxies, gamma-rays avoid absorption by being deflected by the gravitational potentials of such intervening stars to projected distances ("impact parameters"') where the resulting $\gamma-\gamma$ opacities are negligible. Thus, neither of the intervening excess photon fields considered here, provide a substantial source of excess $\gamma-\gamma$ opacity beyond the EBL, even in the case of very close alignments between the background blazar and a foreground star or galaxy.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

Detection techniques for the H.E.S.S. II telescope, data modeling of gravitational lensing and emission of blazars in HE-VHE astronomy

This thesis presents the study of four aspects of high energy astronomy. The first part of the thesis is dedicated to an aspect of instrument development for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, namely the Level 2 trigger system of the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.). I am providing the motivation and principle of the operation of the Level 2 trigger, I am describing hardware implementation of the system and then I am evaluating expected performances. The second part of my thesis deals with the data analysis and modeling of broad-band emission of particular blazar PKS 1510-089. I am presenting the analysis of the H.E.S.S. data, together with the FERMI data and a collection of multi-wavelength data obtained with various instruments. I am presenting the model of PKS 1510-089 observations carried out during a flare recorded by H.E.S.S.. The third part of my thesis deals with blazars observed by the FERMI-LAT, but from the point of view of other phenomena: a strong gravitational lensing. This part of my thesis shows the first evidence for gravitational lensing phenomena in high energy gamma-rays. This evidence comes from the observation of a gravitational lens system induced echo in the light curve of the distant blazar PKS 1830-211. The last part concentrates on another lensing phenomena called femtolensing. The search for femtolensing effects has been used to derive limits on the primordial black holes abundance. I have used gamma-ray bursts with known redshifts detected by the FERMI Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) to search for the femtolensing effects caused by compact objects.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

Performance of the Cherenkov Telescope Array at energies above 10 TeV

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next generation observatory for very high energy gamma rays. The capability of the array to detect gamma-rays above 10 TeV is going to be achieved with a large number of Small Size Telescopes (SSTs) which will cover a large area. The subarray composed of SSTs has to compromise the number of telescopes (cost) and the large effective area. The separation between the telescopes has to be adjusted to achieve highest sensitivity with the smallest number of telescopes. On the other hand larger separation can worsen the energy threshold as well as the energy and angular resolutions. In our study we have investigated the optimal spacing between the telescopes of the SST array using an analytical approach and the concept of telescope cell consisting of four telescopes as well as Monte Carlo simulations of the sets of cells.

astro-ph.IM↗