arXiv subjects

Hakon Dahle

Publications and source records attributed to Hakon Dahle.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

SGAS 143845.1+145407: A Big, Cool Starburst at Redshift 0.816

We present the discovery and a detailed multi-wavelength study of a strongly-lensed luminous infrared galaxy at z=0.816. Unlike most known lensed galaxies discovered at optical or near-infrared wavelengths this lensed source is red, r-Ks = 3.9 [AB], which the data presented here demonstrate is due to ongoing dusty star formation. The overall lensing magnification (a factor of 17) facilitates observations from the blue optical through to 500micron, fully capturing both the stellar photospheric emission as well as the re-processed thermal dust emission. We also present optical and near-IR spectroscopy. These extensive data show that this lensed galaxy is in many ways typical of IR-detected sources at z~1, with both a total luminosity and size in accordance with other (albeit much less detailed) measurements in samples of galaxies observed in deep fields with the Spitzer telescope. Its far-infrared spectral energy distribution is well-fit by local templates that are an order of magnitude less luminous than the lensed galaxy; local templates of comparable luminosity are too hot to fit. Its size (D~7kpc) is much larger than local luminous infrared galaxies, but in line with sizes observed for such galaxies at z~1. The star formation appears uniform across this spatial scale. In this source, the luminosity of which is typical of sources that dominate the cosmic infrared background, we find that star formation is spatially extended and well organised, quite unlike the compact merger-driven starbursts which are typical for sources of this luminosity at z~0.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Mass Reconstruction using Particle Based Lensing II: Quantifying substructure with Strong+Weak lensing and X-rays

We report a mass reconstruction of A1689 using Particle Based Lensing (PBL), a new technique for Strong+Weak lensing that allows a variable resolution depending on the data density and the signal-to-noise. Using PBL we also calculate the covariance matrix for the resulting mass map. The reconstruction of A1689 shows a secondary mass peak in the north-east direction confirming previous optical observations. This indicates that the central region of the cluster is still undergoing a weak merger. We have used this mass map to measure power ratios of the dark matter distribution and compared it to the X-ray distribution. We find that the power in the X-ray distribution is lower suggesting a smoother and rounder gas distribution compared to the dark matter distribution. We fitted an NFW profile to the profile derived from the mass map and we find that the lensing mass within 1 Mpc is $1.5\pm0.33\times 10^{15}M_\odot$. This is higher than the X-ray mass.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Gemini/GMOS Spectroscopy of 26 Strong Lensing Selected Galaxy Cluster Cores

We present results from a spectroscopic program targeting 26 strong lensing cluster cores that were visually identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Second Red-Sequence Cluster Survey (RCS-2). The 26 galaxy cluster lenses span a redshift range of 0.2 < z < 0.65, and our spectroscopy reveals 69 unique background sources with redshifts as high as z=5.200. We also identify redshifts for 262 cluster member galaxies and measure the velocity dispersions and dynamical masses for 18 clusters where we have redshifts for N \geq 10 cluster member galaxies. We include an accounting for the expected biases in dynamical masses of strong lensing selected clusters as predicted by results from numerical simulations and discuss possible sources of bias in our observations. The median dynamical mass of the 18 clusters with N \geq 10 spectroscopic cluster members is M_{Vir} = 7.84 x 10^14 M_sun h_{0.7}^{-1}, which is somewhat higher than predictions for strong lensing selected clusters in simulations. The disagreement is not significant considering the large uncertainty in our dynamical data, systematic uncertainties in the velocity dispersion calibration, and limitations of the theoretical modeling. Nevertheless our study represents an important first step toward characterizing large samples of clusters that are identified in a systematic way as systems exhibiting dramatic strong lensing features.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

The Redshift Distribution of Giant Arcs in the Sloan Giant Arcs Survey

We measure the redshift distribution of a sample of 28 giant arcs discovered as a part of the Sloan Giant Arcs Survey (SGAS). Gemini/GMOS-North spectroscopy provides precise redshifts for 24 arcs, and "redshift desert" constraints for the remaining four. This is a direct measurement of the redshift distribution of a uniformly selected sample of bright giant arcs, which is an observable that can be used to inform efforts to predict giant arc statistics. Our primary giant arc sample has a median redshift z=1.821 and nearly two thirds of the arcs - 64% - are sources at z \gtrsim 1.4, indicating that the population of background sources that are strongly lensed into bright giant arcs resides primarily at high redshift. We also analyze the distribution of redshifts for 19 secondary strongly lensed background sources that are not visually apparent in SDSS imaging, but were identified in deeper follow-up imaging of the lensing cluster fields. Our redshift sample for the secondary sources is not spectroscopically complete, but combining it with our primary giant arc sample suggests that a large fraction of all background galaxies which are strongly lensed by foreground clusters reside at z \gtrsim 1.4. Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) tests indicate that our well-selected, spectroscopically complete primary giant arc redshift sample can be reproduced with a model distribution that is constructed from a combination of results from studies of strong lensing clusters in numerical simulations, and observational constraints on the galaxy luminosity function.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Two Lensed Lyman-alpha Emitting Galaxies at z~5

We present observations of two strongly lensed $z\sim5$ Lyman-$α$ Emitting (LAE) galaxies that were discovered in the Sloan Giant Arcs Survey (SGAS). We identify the two sources as SGAS J091541+382655, at $z=5.200$, and SGAS J134331+415455 at $z=4.994$. We measure their AB magnitudes at $(i,z)=(23.34\pm0.09,23.29\pm0.13$) mags and $(i,z)=(23.78\pm0.18,24.24^{+0.18}_{-0.16}$) mags, and the rest-frame equivalent widths of the Lyman-$α$ emission at $25.3\pm4.1$Å~and $135.6\pm20.3$Å~for SGAS J091541+382655 and SGAS J134331+415455, respectively. Each source is strongly lensed by a massive galaxy cluster in the foreground, and the magnifications due to gravitational lensing are recovered from strong lens modeling of the foreground lensing potentials. We use the magnification to calculate the intrinsic, unlensed Lyman-$α$ and UV continuum luminosities for both sources, as well as the implied star formation rates (SFR). We find SGAS J091541+382655 and SGAS J134341+415455 to be galaxies with (L$_{Ly-α}$, L$_{UV})\leq(0.6$L$_{Ly-α}^{*}, 2$L$_{UV}^{*}$) and (L$_{Ly-α}$, L$_{UV})=(0.5$L$_{Ly-α}^{*}, 0.9$L$_{UV}^{*}$), respectively. Comparison of the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of both sources against stellar population models produces estimates of the mass in young stars in each galaxy: we report an upper limit of M$_{stars} \leq 7.9^{+3.7}_{-2.5} \times 10^{7}$ M$_{\sun} h_{0.7}^{-1}$ for SGAS J091531+382655, and a range of viable masses for SGAS J134331+415455 of $2\times10^{8}$ M$_{\sun} h_{0.7}^{-1} <$ M$_{stars} < 6\times10^{9}$ M$_{\sun} h_{0.7}^{-1}$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Two Lensed z~3 Lyman Break Galaxies Discovered in the SDSS Giant Arcs Survey

We report the discovery of two strongly-lensed z ~ 3 Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) discovered as u-band dropouts as part of the SDSS Giant Arcs Survey (SGAS). The first, SGAS J122651.3+215220 at z = 2.9233 is lensed by one of several sub-clusters, SDSS J1226+2152, in a complex massive cluster at z = 0.43. Its (g, r, i) magnitudes are (21.14, 20.60, 20.51) which translate to surface brightnesses, mu_{g,r,i}, of (23.78, 23.11, 22.81). The second, SGAS J152745.1+065219, is an LBG at z = 2.7593 lensed by the foreground SDSS J1527+0652 at z = 0.39, with (g, r, z)=(20.90, 20.52, 20.58) and mu_{g,r,z}=(25.15, 24.52, 24.12). Moderate resolution spectroscopy confirms the redshifts suggested by photometric breaks, and shows both absorption and emission features typical of LBGs. Lens mass models derived from combined imaging and spectroscopy reveal that SGAS J122651.3+215220 is a highly magnified source (M ~40), while SGAS J152745.1+065219 is magnified by no more than M ~ 15. Compared to LBG survey results (Steidel et al. 2003), the luminosities and lensing-corrected magnitudes suggest that SGAS J122651.3+215220 is among the faintest 20% of LBGs in that sample. SGAS J152745.1+065219, on the other hand, appears to be more representative of the average LBG, similar to the "Cosmic Eye".

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Handbook for the GREAT08 Challenge: An image analysis competition for cosmological lensing

The GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing 2008 (GREAT08) Challenge focuses on a problem that is of crucial importance for future observations in cosmology. The shapes of distant galaxies can be used to determine the properties of dark energy and the nature of gravity, because light from those galaxies is bent by gravity from the intervening dark matter. The observed galaxy images appear distorted, although only slightly, and their shapes must be precisely disentangled from the effects of pixelisation, convolution and noise. The worldwide gravitational lensing community has made significant progress in techniques to measure these distortions via the Shear TEsting Program (STEP). Via STEP, we have run challenges within our own community, and come to recognise that this particular image analysis problem is ideally matched to experts in statistical inference, inverse problems and computational learning. Thus, in order to continue the progress seen in recent years, we are seeking an infusion of new ideas from these communities. This document details the GREAT08 Challenge for potential participants. Please visit http://www.great08challenge.info for the latest information.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Using the cluster mass function from weak lensing to constrain neutrino masses

We discuss the variation of cosmological upper bounds on $M_ν$, the sum of the neutrino masses, with the choice of data sets included in the analysis, pointing out a few oddities not easily seen when all data sets are combined. For example, the effect of applying different priors varies significantly depending on whether we use the power spectrum from the 2dFGRS or SDSS galaxy survey. A conservative neutrino mass limit of $M_ν< 1.43$eV (95%C.L.) is obtained by combining the WMAP 3 year data with the cluster mass function measured by weak gravitational lensing. This limit has the virtue of not making any assumptions about the bias of luminous matter with respect to the dark matter, and is in this sense (and this sense only) bias-free.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

The Shear TEsting Programme 2: Factors affecting high precision weak lensing analyses

The Shear TEsting Programme (STEP) is a collaborative project to improve the accuracy and reliability of weak lensing measurement, in preparation for the next generation of wide-field surveys. We review sixteen current and emerging shear measurement methods in a common language, and assess their performance by running them (blindly) on simulated images that contain a known shear signal. We determine the common features of algorithms that most successfully recover the input parameters. We achieve previously unattained discriminatory precision in our analysis, via a combination of more extensive simulations, and pairs of galaxy images that have been rotated with respect to each other, thus removing noise from their intrinsic ellipticities. The robustness of our simulation approach is also confirmed by testing the relative calibration of methods on real data. Weak lensing measurement has improved since the first STEP paper. Several methods now consistently achieve better than 2% precision, and are still being developed. However, the simulations can now distinguish all methods from perfect performance. Our main concern continues to be the potential for a multiplicative shear calibration bias: not least because this can not be internally calibrated with real data. We determine which galaxy populations are responsible and, by adjusting the simulated observing conditions, we also investigate the effects of instrumental and atmospheric parameters. We have isolated several previously unrecognised aspects of galaxy shape measurement, in which focussed development could provide further progress towards the sub-percent level of precision desired for future surveys. [ABRIDGED]

astro-ph↗