arXiv subjects

Ashish Kumar Meena

Publications and source records attributed to Ashish Kumar Meena.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

$\texttt{LensFactory.jl}$: A general-purpose strong lens modeling package

We present LensFactory.jl, an efficient, open-source, general-purpose strong lens modeling package written in Julia. It supports single- and multi-plane lensing with a wide range of analytic lens profiles, and its modular design, built on Julia's multiple dispatch, makes it straightforward to add new profiles or inference methods, while native multi-threading parallelizes the computationally expensive steps, enabling full cluster-scale lens reconstructions within hours on a desktop-class machine. We validate the mass-reconstruction pipeline of LensFactory.jl on two simulated galaxy clusters (Ares and Hera), recovering the convergence and magnification maps well where the lensing constraints lie, and on the JWST-observed cluster SMACS J0723.3-7327, obtaining a strong lens model (image-plane RMS of 0.46'') consistent with previously published results. In addition, we introduce singularity maps as a complementary diagnostic for comparing lens models, probing differences in the higher-order derivatives of the lensing potential, which remain largely unconstrained by standard observables such as image positions, time delays, and flux ratios. LensFactory.jl is accompanied by a set of worked examples covering all core functionality.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

Beyond collective fluctuations: probing micro-image swarms in lensed quasars with intensity interferometry

Each strongly lensed image of a quasar behind a lensing galaxy (or galaxy cluster) is composed of a swarm of micro-images. This is a result of microlensing due to stellar-scale substructure in the lens. The presence of microlenses forms a network of micro-caustics, and a source transiting these micro-caustics gives rise to variation in observed strongly lensed images. These micro-image swarms are currently observable only through collective intensity fluctuations, which hide the underlying information on the stellar (and compact dark matter, if any) mass functions within the swarm. To unlock the information present in micro-image swarms, it is necessary to explore new techniques. In this work, we study the prospects of determining the micro-image swarm size in lensed quasar images using the intensity interferometry (i.e., the Hanbury Brown & Twiss effect). We consider QSO 2237+0305 and PS J0147+4630, two of the brightest lens quasars in the sky, and study micro-image swarm features in visibility space for both macro-minimum and macro-saddle-point images. At the end, we argue that, with ongoing and expected technical advances, observations of micro-image swarms are plausible, at least for the brightest lensed quasars.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

First Statistical Study of Over 100 Magnified Stellar Events at Redshift $z \approx 0.725$ with JWST

Highly magnified stars at cosmological distances ($z \gtrsim 0.7$) become detectable thanks to microlensing by intracluster stars near the critical curves of galaxy clusters. Multi-epoch photometric campaigns targeting caustic crossing galaxies magnified by massive galaxy clusters enable the detection of these objects as transient events. Such stars provide unique opportunities to study stellar populations at early cosmic times, probe the nature of dark matter, reveal small-scale structure in the cluster, and improve lens models. To date, only a few dozen high-redshift stars have been reported, with a single lensed galaxy, the Dragon, holding the current record of 44 detections. These numbers, however, remain insufficient to exploit their full potential. In this paper, owing to the inclusion of new observations, we report the identification of more than 100 magnified stellar events in the Dragon, behind the massive galaxy cluster Abell 370. The relatively low redshift of the Dragon ($z\approx0.725$) facilitates the detection of its most massive stars. Using imaging data from three different cycles (2022--2024) with the James Webb Space Telescope, we apply a time-domain technique to identify flux variations associated with caustic-crossing events. From the spatial distribution of stellar events we constrain the high-end slope of the stellar luminosity function, finding $\beta=2.18^{+0.20}_{-0.30}$. Alternatively, assuming a fixed slope, we constrain the microlens surface mass density. In addition, we examine the parity asymmetry of the detected caustic-crossing events, a proposed probe of wave dark matter, and find that it remains present. We also use the events to trace the regions of highest magnification, offering an alternative way to map the system critical curves.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Tests of general relativity in pseudo-Newtonian approach

We investigate the extent to which pseudo-Newtonian gravitational potentials can reproduce classic tests of general relativity without resorting to full general relativistic formalisms. This is useful for the researchers seeking intuitive insight into relativistic gravity. Focusing on the perihelion precession of Mercury, gravitational redshift, and gravitational light bending, we derive analytical expressions for orbital precession and demonstrate that, with suitable physically acceptable parameters, pseudo-Newtonian approaches can accurately reproduce the observed perihelion advance and gravitational redshift. However, we confirm that no single potential consistently captures all relativistic effects. In particular, while certain parameters yield agreement with general relativity for planetary motion and redshift, they fail to reproduce gravitational lensing over a broad range of impact parameters. Our results highlight both the usefulness and limitations of pseudo-Newtonian methods in modeling gravitational phenomena. Although the pseudo-Newtonian approach cannot serve as universal substitutes for general relativity, especially in strong-field regimes, it provides valuable semi-analytical insight and pedagogical simplicity. Our results indicate the usefulness of the pseudo-Newtonian approach to uncover more complicated phenomena involved with strong field gravity in possibly modification to general relativity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

JWST's PEARLS: Temperatures of Nine Highly Magnified Stars in a Galaxy at Redshift 0.94 and Simulated Stellar Population Dependence on Stellar Metallicity and the Initial Mass Function

We present stellar atmosphere modeling of JWST NIRCam photometry of nine highly magnified individual stars in a single galaxy at redshift z=0.94 known as the Warhol arc, which is strongly lensed by the galaxy cluster MACSJ0416. Seven of these transients were identified by Yan et al. (2023). The nine sources are all likely red supergiants with temperatures of T~4000K. We present new longslit spectroscopy of the Warhol arc acquired with Keck-I and the Large Binocular Telescope, and use these data to constrain the arc's oxygen abundance to be 12+log(O/H)=8.45+-0.08. We perform a microlensing simulation on synthetic stellar populations using a range of stellar metallicities and initial mass function slopes. The temperature distribution of the simulated detectable stars is sensitive to the choice of stellar metallicity, and setting the stellar metallicity equal to the arc's nebular metallicity (log(Z*/Zsun)=-0.24) produces a simulated temperature distribution that is consistent with the observations, while lower stellar metallicities (log(Z*/Zsun)<-0.75) produce simulated temperatures that are inconsistent with the observations. The expected detection rate is strongly anticorrelated with the IMF slope for alpha>1.2. For the canonical IMF slope alpha=2.35, the simulation yields expected transient detection rates that agree with the observed detection rates in the HST Flashlights filters, but over predicts the detection rate by a factor of ~3-12 (<2sigma tension) in the JWST filters. The simulated detection rate is sensitive to the choice of stellar metallicity, with lower metallicities (log(Z*/Zsun)<-0.75) yielding a significantly lower simulated detection rate that further reduces the modest tension with the observations.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

JWST's PEARLS: A Candidate Massive Binary Star System in a Lensed Galaxy at Redshift 0.94

Massive stars at cosmological distances can be individually detected during transient microlensing events, when gravitational lensing magnifications may exceed ~1000. Nine such sources were identified in JWST NIRCam imaging of a single galaxy at redshift z=0.94 known as the "Warhol arc,'' which is mirror-imaged by the galaxy cluster MACSJ0416.1-2403. Here we present the discovery of two coincident and well-characterized microlensing events at the same location followed by a third event observed in a single filter approximately 18 months later. The events can be explained by microlensing of a binary star system consisting of a red supergiant (T ~ 4000 K) and a B-type (T ~ 13,000 K) companion star. The timescale of the coincident microlensing events constrains the estimated projected source-plane size to tens of AU. The most likely binary configurations consistent with the observational constraints on the temperature and luminosity of each star are stars with initial masses M1=23.6+5.3-4.3 Msol and an initial mass ratio between the two stars close to unity. A kinematic model that reproduces the observed light curve in all filters gives a relatively small transverse velocity of 50 km/s. This requires the dominant velocity component of several hundreds of km/s to be roughly parallel to the microcaustic. An alternative possibility would be that the three microlensing events correspond to unrelated stars crossing distinct microcaustics, but this would imply a highly elevated rate of events at their common position, even though no underlying knot is present at the location.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

VENUS: A Strongly Lensed Clumpy Galaxy at $z\sim11-12$ behind the Galaxy Cluster MACS J0257.1-2325

We present the discovery of a strongly lensed galaxy at $z\sim11-12$, dubbed the ``Misty Moons'', identified in the JWST Treasury Survey, Vast Exploration for Nascent, Unexplored Sources (VENUS). The Misty Moons is gravitationally lensed by the galaxy cluster MACS J0257.1-2325 at $z=0.505$, and has five multiple images suggested by two independent lensing models. Two of the five images, ID1 and ID2 ($\mu\sim 20-30$), are very bright (F200W$\sim26$ AB mag) and exhibit blue SEDs with prominent Ly$\alpha$ breaks. In the source plane, the Misty Moons is a sub-$L^*$ galaxy ($M_{\rm UV}\sim-18.0$ mag) resolved into multiple stellar clumps, each of which has an effective radius of $r_\mathrm{eff}\sim 10-70$ pc and a stellar mass of $\sim10^7\ M_\odot$. These clumps dominate the stellar mass budget of the Misty Moons ($\gtrsim80\%$), similar to other high-$z$ clumps, which suggests a highly clustered mode of star formation in the early Universe, unlike seen in local dwarf galaxies. We convolve the source-plane image with the JWST/NIRCam point-spread function to produce a mock NIRCam image of the Misty Moons without lensing magnification, and find that the intrinsic galaxy has a radial surface-brightness profile comparable to those of $z\gtrsim10$ faint galaxies, such as JADES-GS-z13-0 and JADES-GS-z14-1, indicating that the Misty Moons represents a typical $z\gtrsim10$ faint galaxy. The Misty Moons, a lensed galaxy with resolved internal structures, provides an ideal laboratory for exploring the early stages of galaxy formation at $z\gtrsim10$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Gravitational lensing of 21 cm HI signal: detection prospects at z ~ 1 with uGMRT in galaxy cluster lenses

The atomic hydrogen HI content of galaxies is intimately related to star formation and galaxy evolution through the baryon cycle, which involves processes such as accretion, feedback, outflows, and gas recycling. While probing the HI gas over cosmic time has improved our understanding, direct HI detection with the redshifted 21 cm line is essentially limited to $z\lesssim 0.42$. Detections beyond this redshift are based on stacking to obtain average HI mass of galaxy populations. Gravitational lensing by the cluster lenses enhances the HI signal and can extend the redshift limit further. In this work, we describe simulations of HI lensing in cluster lenses. We explore the feasibility of detecting strongly lensed HI emission from background galaxies using known $50$ cluster lenses within the uGMRT sky coverage. We demonstrate that certain clusters offer a strong likelihood of HI detection. We also investigate how strong lensing distorts the HI spectral lines. The shape of the HI signal in these lensing models provides useful information and can be used in optimising signal extraction in blind and targeted HI surveys. We find that blind detection of HI signal from galaxies in the redshift range up to $1.58$ requires more than a few hundred hours of observations of individual clusters with the uGMRT. Detecting HI emission in galaxies with strong optical lensing seems promising, with a $5\sigma$ detection potential in less than 50 hours for Abell 370 and 75 hours for Abell 1703 using the uGMRT.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Gravitational lensing of fast radio bursts: prospects for probing microlens populations in lensing galaxies

Gravitational lensing by a stellar microlens of mass $M$ forms two images separated by micro-arcseconds on the sky and has a time delay of $2\times10^{-5}(M/{\rm M_\odot})$ seconds. Although we cannot resolve such micro-images in the sky, they could be resolved in time if the source is a fast radio burst (FRB). In this work, we study the magnification ($|\mu|$) and time delay~($t_d$) distributions of micro-images led by different microlens populations. We find that, in microlensing of typical strongly lensed (macro-)images in galaxy lenses, micro-images stemmed from a population of stellar mass microlenses in the $[0.08, 1.5]\:{\rm M_\odot}$ range and a second (dark) microlens population in $[10^{-3} - 10^{-2}]\:{\rm M_\odot}$ range reside in different parts of $|\mu|-t_d$ plane. For the global minimum macro-image, due to low stellar mass density, we find that the stellar population leads to peaks in autocorrelation at ${>}10^{-6}$ seconds, whereas the secondary population leads to peaks at ${<}10^{-6}$ seconds, allowing us to differentiate different microlens populations. However, an increase in stellar density introduces new peaks at ${<}10^{-6}$ seconds, which can pollute the inference about the presence of multiple microlens populations. In addition, we also show that the number of micro-images, hence the number of peaks in the autocorrelation, is also sensitive to the underlying stellar mass function, allowing us to constrain the stellar initial mass function (IMF) with FRB microlesning in the future. This work is a first step towards using FRB lensing to probe the microlens population within strong lenses, and more detailed studies are required to assess the effect of various uncertainties that we only discussed qualitatively.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Flashlights: Prospects for constraining the Initial Mass Function around cosmic noon with caustic-crossing events

The Flashlights program with the Hubble Space Telescope imaged the six Hubble Frontier Fields galaxy clusters in two epochs and detected twenty transients. These are primarily expected to be caustic-crossing events (CCEs) where bright stars in distant lensed galaxies, typically at redshift $z\approx1$--3, get temporarily magnified close to cluster caustics. Since CCEs are generally biased toward more massive and luminous stars, they offer a unique route for probing the high end of the stellar mass function. We take advantage of the Flashlights event statistics to place preliminary constraints on the stellar initial mass function (IMF) around cosmic noon. The photometry (along with spectral information) of lensed arcs is used to infer their various stellar properties, and stellar synthesis models are used to evolve a recent stellar population in them. We estimate the microlens surface density near each arc and, together with existing lens models and simple formalism for CCEs, calculate the expected rate for a given IMF. We find that, on average, a Salpeter-like IMF ($α=2.35$) underpredicts the number of observed CCEs by a factor of ${\sim}0.7$, and a top-heavy IMF ($α=1.00$) overpredicts by a factor of ${\sim}1.7$, suggesting that the average IMF slope may lie somewhere in between. However, given the large uncertainties associated with estimating the stellar populations, these results are strongly model-dependent. Nevertheless, we introduce a useful framework for constraining the IMF using CCEs. Observations with JWST are already yielding many more CCEs and will soon enable more stringent constraints on the IMF at a range of redshifts.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Interference patterns for simple lens models in wave-optics regime

This work studies interference patterns created by simple lens models (point mass, Chang-Refsdal, and binary lens) in the wave optics regime, primarily in the context of lensing of gravitational waves (GWs) in the LIGO band at frequencies around 100 Hz. We study how the interference patterns behave close to the caustic curves which mark the high magnification regions in conventional geometric optics. In addition, we also look at the formation of highly de-amplified regions in the amplification maps close to caustics and how they differ under wave and geometric optics. We see that for a source close to caustics, the oscillations in the amplification factor (their amplitude and location of crests and troughs) can differ significantly in wave optics compared to geometric optics. As we move away from caustics, the wave optics amplification factor starts to converge towards geometric optics one, especially the frequencies at which crests and through occur in the amplification factor, although the amplitude of these oscillations can still be considerably different. For Chang-Refsdal and binary lens with ${\sim}100\:{\rm M_\odot}-200\:{\rm M_\odot}$ can introduce significant de-amplification at frequencies ${\sim}100$ Hz when the source is close to caustics, which may help us distinguish such lenses from the point mass lens.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Which gravitational lensing degeneracies are broken in wave-optics?

This paper studies gravitational lensing degeneracies in the wave-optics regime, focusing on lensed gravitational waves (GWs). Considering lensing degeneracies as re-scaling (or transformations) of arrival time delay surface, we can divide them into local and global types. Local degeneracies only affect the time delay surface in localized regions, whereas global degeneracies re-scale the whole time delay surface by a constant while keeping the various observed image properties unchanged. We show that local degeneracies can be broken in the wave-optics regime since lensing effects become sensitive to the overall arrival time delay surface and not only to the time delay values at the image positions. On the other hand, global degeneracies (such as similarity transformation, prismatic transformation, and mass-sheet degeneracy) multiply the amplification factor by a constant factor (let us say, $λ$). However, in GW lensing, as the GW signal amplitude depends on the source distance, it turns out that $λ$ is completely degenerate with the Hubble constant, similar to what we see in geometric optics. Hence, with the lensing of GWs, global degeneracies are as hard to break in wave optics as they are in geometric optics.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Image formation near hyperbolic umbilic in strong gravitational lensing

Hyperbolic umbilic (HU) is a point singularity of the gravitational lens equation, giving rise to a ring-shaped image formation made of four highly magnified images, off-centred from the lens centre. Recent observations have revealed new strongly lensed image formations near HU singularities, and many more are expected in ongoing and future observations. Like fold/cusp, image formations near HU also satisfy magnification relation ($R_{\rm hu}$), i.e., the signed magnification sum of the four images equals zero. Here, we study how $R_{\rm hu}$ deviates from zero as a function of area ($A_{\rm hu}$) covered by the image formation near HU and the distance ($d$) of the central maxima image (which is part of the HU image formation) from the lens centre for ideal single- and double-component cluster-scale lenses. For lens ellipticity values $\geq0.3$, the central maxima image will form sufficiently far from the lens centre ($d\gtrsim5''$), similar to the observed HU image formations with $R_{\rm hu}\simeq0$. We also find that, in some cases, double-component and actual cluster-scale lenses can lead to large cross-sections for HU image formations for sources at $z\gtrsim5$, effectively increasing the chances to observe HU image formation at high redshifts. Finally, we study the time delay distribution in the observed HU image formations, finding that not only are these images highly magnified, but the relative time delay between various pairs of HU characteristic image formation has a typical value of $\sim100$ days, an order of magnitude smaller than generic five-image formations in cluster lenses, making such image formations optimal targets for time delay cosmography studies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

The detection and characterization of highly magnified stars with JWST: Prospects of finding Population III

Gravitational lensing may render individual high-mass stars detectable out to cosmological distances, and several extremely magnified stars have in recent years been detected out to redshifts $z\approx 6$. Here, we present Muspelheim, a model for the evolving spectral energy distributions of both metal-enriched and metal-free stars at high redshifts. Using this model, we argue that lensed stars should form a highly biased sample of the intrinsic distribution of stars across the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, and that this bias will typically tend to favour the detection of lensed stars in evolved stages characterized by low effective temperatures, even though stars only spend a minor fraction of their lifetimes in such states. We also explore the prospects of detecting individual, lensed metal-free (Population III) stars at high redshifts using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We find that very massive ($\gtrsim 100\ M_\odot$) Population III stars at $z\gtrsim 6$ may potentially be detected by JWST in surveys covering large numbers of strong lensing clusters, provided that the Population III stellar initial mass function is sufficiently top-heavy, that these stars evolve to effective temperatures $\leq 15000$ K, and that the cosmic star formation rate density of Pop III stars reaches $\gtrsim 10^{-4}\ M_\odot$ cMpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$ at $z\approx$ 6-10. Various ways to distinguish metal-free lensed stars from metal-enriched ones are also discussed.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Gravitational lensing of gravitational waves: prospects for probing intermediate-mass black holes in galaxy lenses with global minima image

This work studies microlensing effects in strongly lensed gravitational wave (GW) signals corresponding to global minima images in galaxy-scale lenses. We find that stellar microlenses alone are unable to introduce noticeable wave effects in the global minima GW signals at strong lensing magnification $(μ)<50$ with match value between unlensed and lensed GW signals being above ${\sim}99.5\%$ in ${\sim}90\%$ of systems implying that GW signals corresponding to global minima can be treated as reference signal to determine the amount of microlensing in other strongly lensed counterparts. Since the stellar microlenses introduce negligible wave effects in global minima, they can be used to probe the intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) lenses in the galaxy lens. We show that the presence of an IMBH lens with mass in the range $[50,10^3] {\rm M_\odot}$ such that the global minima lies within five Einstein radius of it, the microlensing effects at $f<10^2$Hz are mainly determined by the IMBH lens for $μ<50$. Assuming that a typical strong lensing magnification of 3.8 and high enough signal-to-noise ratio (in the range ${\simeq}[10, 30]$) to detect the microlensing effect in GW signals corresponding to global minima, with non-detection of IMBH-led microlensing effects in ${\simeq}15\:({\simeq}150)$ lensed GW signals, we can rule out dark matter fraction $>10\%\:(>1\%)$ made of IMBH population inside galaxy lenses with mass values $>150 {\rm M_\odot}$ with ${\sim}90\%$ confidence. Although we have specifically used IMBHs as an example, the same analysis applies to any subhalo (or compact objects) with lensing masses (i.e., the total mass inside Einstein radius) satisfying the above criterion.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Exploring the Impact of Microlensing on Gravitational Wave Signals: Biases, Population Characteristics, and Prospects for Detection

In this study, we investigate the impact of microlensing on gravitational wave (GW) signals in the LIGO$-$Virgo sensitivity band. Microlensing caused by an isolated point lens, with (redshifted) mass ranging from $M_\mathrm{Lz}\in(1,10^5){\rm M}_\odot$ and impact parameter $y\in (0.01,~5)$, can result in a maximum mismatch of $\sim 30\%$ with their unlensed counterparts. When $y<1$, it strongly anti-correlates with the luminosity distance enhancing the detection horizon and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Biases in inferred source parameters are assessed, with in-plane spin components being the most affected intrinsic parameters. The luminosity distance is often underestimated, while sky-localisation and trigger times are mostly well-recovered. Study of a population of microlensed signals due to an isolated point lens primarily reveals: (i) using unlensed templates during the search causes fractional loss ($20\%$ to $30\%$) of potentially identifiable microlensed signals; (ii) the observed distribution of $y$ challenges the notion of its high improbability at low values ($y\lesssim 1$), especially for $y\lesssim 0.1$; (iii) Bayes factor analysis of the population indicates that certain region in $M_\mathrm{Lz}-y$ parameter space have a higher probability of being detected and accurately identified as microlensed. Notably, the microlens parameters for the most compelling candidate identified in previous microlensing searches, GW200208_130117, fall within a 1-sigma range of the aforementioned higher probability region. Identifying microlensing signatures from $M_\mathrm{Lz}<100~$M$_\odot$ remains challenging due to small microlensing effects at typical SNR values. Additionally, we also examined how microlensing from a population of microlenses influences the detection of strong lensing signatures in pairs of GW events, particularly in the posterior-overlap analysis.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

What are the parities of photon-ring images near a black hole?

Light that grazes a black-hole event horizon can loop around one or more times before escaping again, resulting for distance observers in an infinite sequence of ever fainter and more delayed images near the black hole shadow. In the case of the M87 and Sgr A$^*$ back holes, the first of these so-called photon-ring images have now been observed. A question then arises: are such images minima, maxima, or saddle-points in the sense of Fermat's principle in gravitational lensing? or more briefly, the title question above. In the theory of lensing by weak gravitational fields, image parities are readily found by considering the time-delay surface (also called the Fermat potential or the arrival-time surface). In this work, we extend the notion of the time delay surface to strong gravitational fields and compute the surface for a Schwarzschild black hole. The time-delay surface is the difference of two wavefronts, one travelling forward from the source and one travelling backwards from the observer. Image parities are read off from the topography of the surface, exactly as in the weak-field regime, but the surface itself is more complicated. Of the images, furthest from the black hole and similar to the weak-field limit, are a minimum and a saddle point. The strong field repeats the pattern, corresponding to light taking one or more loops around the back hole. In between, there are steeply-rising walls in the time-delay surface, which can be interpreted as maxima and saddle points that are infinitely delayed and not observable -- these correspond to light rays taking a U-turn around the black hole.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Exotic Image Formation in Strong Gravitational Lensing by Clusters of Galaxies -- IV. Elliptical NFW Lenses and Hyperbolic Umbilics

A source lying near hyperbolic umbilic (HU) leads to a ring-like image formation, constituting four images with high magnification factors and lying in a small region of the lens plane. Since (based on our earlier work) the observed number of HU image formations in cluster lenses is expected to increase in future, it is timely to investigate them in more detail. Like fold and cusp, HU also satisfies the magnification relation, i.e., the signed magnification sum of the four images equals zero. This work presents a detailed study of HU magnification relation ($R_{\rm hu}$) considering the elliptical Navarro-Frenk-White (eNFW) lens profile suitable for cluster scale dark matter halos. Our results show that for an isolated eNFW lens, $R_{\rm hu}$ is more sensitive to ellipticity than its mass or concentration parameter. An ellipticity greater than 0.3 results in $R_{\rm hu}$ lying close to zero with a small scatter around it. A substructure near the HU image formation causes the average $R_{\rm hu}$ value to deviate from zero and increases the scatter, with the amount of deviation depending on the image type near which the substructure lies. However, a population of substructures in the lens plane (equivalent to the galaxy lenses inside the cluster) does not significantly shift the average $R_{\rm hu}$ value from zero but increases the scatter around it. We find that $R_{\rm hu} \simeq 0$ for HU image formation in the Abell 1703 cluster. Repeating this test in other clusters where HU formations are discovered can be a useful indicator of substructure in cluster halos.

astro-ph.CO↗