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Matthew W. Auger

Publications and source records attributed to Matthew W. Auger.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The Sloan Lens ACS Survey. XIII. Discovery of 40 New Galaxy-Scale Strong Lenses

We present the full sample of 118 galaxy-scale strong-lens candidates in the Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) Survey for the Masses (S4TM) Survey, which are spectroscopically selected from the final data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Follow-up Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging observations confirm that 40 candidates are definite strong lenses with multiple lensed images. The foreground lens galaxies are found to be early-type galaxies (ETGs) at redshifts 0.06 to 0.44, and background sources are emission-line galaxies at redshifts 0.22 to 1.29. As an extension of the SLACS Survey, the S4TM Survey is the first attempt to preferentially search for strong-lens systems with relatively lower lens masses than those in the pre-existing strong-lens samples. By fitting HST data with a singular isothermal ellipsoid model, we find total projected mass within the Einstein radius of the S4TM strong-lens sample ranges from $3 \times10^{10} M_{\odot}$ to $2 \times10^{11} M_{\odot}$. In [Shu15], we have derived the total stellar mass of the S4TM lenses to be $5 \times10^{10} M_{\odot}$ to $1 \times10^{12} M_{\odot}$. Both total enclosed mass and stellar mass of the S4TM lenses are on average almost a factor of 2 smaller than those of the SLACS lenses, which also represent typical mass scales of the current strong-lens samples. The extended mass coverage provided by the S4TM sample can enable a direct test, with the aid of strong lensing, for transitions in scaling relations, kinematic properties, mass structure, and dark-matter content trends of ETGs at intermediate-mass scales as noted in previous studies.

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The Discovery of a Five-Image Lensed Quasar at z = 3.34 using PanSTARRS1 and Gaia

We report the discovery, spectroscopic confirmation, and mass modelling of the gravitationally lensed quasar system PS J0630-1201. The lens was discovered by matching a photometric quasar catalogue compiled from Pan-STARRS and WISE photometry to the Gaia DR1 catalogue, exploiting the high spatial resolution of the latter (FWHM $\sim $0.1") to identify the three brightest components of the lens. Follow-up spectroscopic observations with the WHT confirm the multiple objects are quasars at redshift $z_{q}=3.34$. Further follow-up with Keck AO high-resolution imaging reveals that the system is composed of two lensing galaxies and the quasar is lensed into a $\sim$2.8" separation four-image cusp configuration with a fifth image clearly visible, and a 1.0" arc due to the lensed quasar host galaxy. The system is well-modelled with two singular isothermal ellipsoids, reproducing the position of the fifth image. We discuss future prospects for measuring time delays between the images and constraining any offset between mass and light using the faintly detected Einstein arcs associated with the quasar host galaxy.

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Gravitationally Lensed Quasars in Gaia: I. Resolving Small-Separation Lenses

Gaia's exceptional resolution (FWHM $\sim$ 0.1$^{\prime\prime}$) allows identification and cataloguing of the multiple images of gravitationally lensed quasars. We investigate a sample of 49 known lensed quasars in the SDSS footprint, with image separations less than 2$^{\prime\prime}$, and find that 8 are detected with multiple components in the first Gaia data release. In the case of the 41 single Gaia detections, we generally are able to distinguish these lensed quasars from single quasars when comparing Gaia flux and position measurements to those of Pan-STARRS and SDSS. This is because the multiple images of these lensed quasars are typically blended in ground-based imaging and therefore the total flux and a flux-weighted centroid are measured, which can differ significantly from the fluxes and centroids of the individual components detected by Gaia. We compare the fluxes through an empirical fit of Pan-STARRS griz photometry to the wide optical Gaia bandpass values using a sample of isolated quasars. The positional offsets are calculated from a recalibrated astrometric SDSS catalogue. Applying flux and centroid difference criteria to spectroscopically confirmed quasars, we discover 4 new sub-arcsecond-separation lensed quasar candidates which have two distinct components of similar colour in archival CFHT or HSC data. Our method based on single Gaia detections can be used to identify the $\sim$ 1400 lensed quasars with image separation above 0.5$^{\prime\prime}$, expected to have only one image bright enough to be detected by Gaia.

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H0LiCOW VII. Cosmic evolution of the correlation between black hole mass and host galaxy luminosity

Strongly lensed active galactic nuclei (AGN) provide a unique opportunity to make progress in the study of the evolution of the correlation between the mass of supermassive black holes ($\mathcal M_{BH}$) and their host galaxy luminosity ($L_{host}$). We demonstrate the power of lensing by analyzing two systems for which state-of-the-art lens modelling techniques have been applied to Hubble Space Telescope imaging data. We use i) the reconstructed images to infer the total and bulge luminosity of the host and ii) published broad-line spectroscopy to estimate $\mathcal M_{BH}$ using the so-called virial method. We then enlarge our sample with new calibration of previously published measurements to study the evolution of the correlation out to z~4.5. Consistent with previous work, we find that without taking into account passive luminosity evolution, the data points lie on the local relation. Once passive luminosity evolution is taken into account, we find that BHs in the more distant Universe reside in less luminous galaxies than today. Fitting this offset as $\mathcal M_{BH}$/$L_{host}$ $\propto$ (1+z)$^γ$, and taking into account selection effects, we obtain $γ$ = 0.6 $\pm$ 0.1 and 0.8$\pm$ 0.1 for the case of $\mathcal M_{BH}$-$L_{bulge}$ and $\mathcal M_{BH}$-$L_{total}$, respectively. To test for systematic uncertainties and selection effects we also consider a reduced sample that is homogeneous in data quality. We find consistent results but with considerably larger uncertainty due to the more limited sample size and redshift coverage ($γ$ = 0.7 $\pm$ 0.4 and 0.2$\pm$ 0.5 for $\mathcal M_{BH}$-$L_{bulge}$ and $\mathcal M_{BH}$-$L_{total}$, respectively), highlighting the need to gather more high-quality data for high-redshift lensed quasar hosts. Our result is consistent with a scenario where the growth of the black hole predates that of the host galaxy.

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H0LiCOW IV. Lens mass model of HE 0435-1223 and blind measurement of its time-delay distance for cosmology

Strong gravitational lenses with measured time delays between the multiple images allow a direct measurement of the time-delay distance to the lens, and thus a measure of cosmological parameters, particularly the Hubble constant, $H_{0}$. We present a blind lens model analysis of the quadruply-imaged quasar lens HE 0435-1223 using deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging, updated time-delay measurements from the COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses (COSMOGRAIL), a measurement of the velocity dispersion of the lens galaxy based on Keck data, and a characterization of the mass distribution along the line of sight. HE 0435-1223 is the third lens analyzed as a part of the $H_{0}$ Lenses in COSMOGRAIL's Wellspring (H0LiCOW) project. We account for various sources of systematic uncertainty, including the detailed treatment of nearby perturbers, the parameterization of the galaxy light and mass profile, and the regions used for lens modeling. We constrain the effective time-delay distance to be $D_{Δt} = 2612_{-191}^{+208}~\mathrm{Mpc}$, a precision of 7.6%. From HE 0435-1223 alone, we infer a Hubble constant of $H_{0} = 73.1_{-6.0}^{+5.7}~\mathrm{km~s^{-1}~Mpc^{-1}}$ assuming a flat $Λ$CDM cosmology. The cosmographic inference based on the three lenses analyzed by H0LiCOW to date is presented in a companion paper (H0LiCOW Paper V).

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VDES J2325-5229 a z=2.7 gravitationally lensed quasar discovered using morphology independent supervised machine learning

We present the discovery and preliminary characterization of a gravitationally lensed quasar with a source redshift $z_{s}=2.74$ and image separation of $2.9"$ lensed by a foreground $z_{l}=0.40$ elliptical galaxy. Since the images of gravitationally lensed quasars are the superposition of multiple point sources and a foreground lensing galaxy, we have developed a morphology independent multi-wavelength approach to the photometric selection of lensed quasar candidates based on Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM) supervised machine learning. Using this technique and $gi$ multicolour photometric observations from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), near IR $JK$ photometry from the VISTA Hemisphere Survey (VHS) and WISE mid IR photometry, we have identified a candidate system with two catalogue components with $i_{AB}=18.61$ and $i_{AB}=20.44$ comprised of an elliptical galaxy and two blue point sources. Spectroscopic follow-up with NTT and the use of an archival AAT spectrum show that the point sources can be identified as a lensed quasar with an emission line redshift of $z=2.739\pm0.003$ and a foreground early type galaxy with $z=0.400\pm0.002$. We model the system as a single isothermal ellipsoid and find the Einstein radius $θ_E \sim 1.47"$, enclosed mass $M_{enc} \sim 4 \times 10^{11}$M$_{\odot}$ and a time delay of $\sim$52 days. The relatively wide separation, month scale time delay duration and high redshift make this an ideal system for constraining the expansion rate beyond a redshift of 1.

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H0LiCOW VI. Testing the fidelity of lensed quasar host galaxy reconstruction

The empirical correlation between the mass of a super-massive black hole (MBH) and its host galaxy properties is widely considered to be evidence of their co-evolution. A powerful way to test the co-evolution scenario and learn about the feedback processes linking galaxies and nuclear activity is to measure these correlations as a function of redshift. Unfortunately, currently MBH can only be estimated in active galaxies at cosmological distances. At these distances, bright active galactic nuclei (AGN) can outshine the host galaxy, making it extremely difficult to measure the host's luminosity. Strongly lensed AGNs provide in principle a great opportunity to improve the sensitivity and accuracy of the host galaxy luminosity measurements as the host galaxy is magnified and more easily separated from the point source, provided the lens model is sufficiently accurate. In order to measure the MBH-L correlation with strong lensing, it is necessary to ensure that the lens modelling is accurate, and that the host galaxy luminosity can be recovered to at least a precision and accuracy better than that of the typical MBH measurement. We carry out extensive and realistic simulations of deep Hubble Space Telescope observations of lensed AGNs obtained by our collaboration. We show that the host galaxy luminosity can be recovered with better accuracy and precision than the typical uncertainty on MBH(~ 0.5 dex) for hosts as faint as 2-4 magnitudes dimmer than the AGN itself. Our simulations will be used to estimate bias and uncertainties on the actual measurements to be presented in a future paper.

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SHARP - III: First Use Of Adaptive Optics Imaging To Constrain Cosmology With Gravitational Lens Time Delays

Accurate and precise measurements of the Hubble constant are critical for testing our current standard cosmological model and revealing possibly new physics. With Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, each strong gravitational lens system with measured time delays can allow one to determine the Hubble constant with an uncertainty of $\sim 7\%$. Since HST will not last forever, we explore adaptive-optics (AO) imaging as an alternative that can provide higher angular resolution than HST imaging but has a less stable point spread function (PSF) due to atmospheric distortion. To make AO imaging useful for time-delay-lens cosmography, we develop a method to extract the unknown PSF directly from the imaging of strongly lensed quasars. In a blind test with two mock data sets created with different PSFs, we are able to recover the important cosmological parameters (time-delay distance, external shear, lens mass profile slope, and total Einstein radius). Our analysis of the Keck AO image of the strong lens system RXJ1131-1231 shows that the important parameters for cosmography agree with those based on HST imaging and modeling within 1-$σ$ uncertainties. Most importantly, the constraint on the model time-delay distance by using AO imaging with $0.045"$resolution is tighter by $\sim 50\%$ than the constraint of time-delay distance by using HST imaging with $0.09"$when a power-law mass distribution for the lens system is adopted. Our PSF reconstruction technique is generic and applicable to data sets that have multiple nearby point sources, enabling scientific studies that require high-precision models of the PSF.

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Broad Hbeta Emission-Line Variability in a Sample of 102 Local Active Galaxies

A sample of 102 local (0.02 < z < 0.1) Seyfert galaxies with black hole masses MBH > 10^7 M_sun was selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and observed using the Keck 10-m telescope to study the scaling relations between MBH and host galaxy properties. We study profile changes of the broad Hbeta emission line within the ~3-9 year time-frame between the two sets of spectra. The variability of the broad Hbeta emission line is of particular interest, not only since it is used to estimate MBH, but also since its strength and width is used to classify Seyfert galaxies into different types. At least some form of broad-line variability (in either width or flux) is observed in the majority (~66%) of the objects, resulting in a Seyfert-type change for ~38% of the objects, likely driven by variable accretion and/or obscuration. The broad Hbeta line virtually disappears in 3/102 (~3%) extreme cases. We discuss potential causes for these changing-look AGNs. While similar dramatic transitions have previously been reported in the literature, either on a case-by-case basis or in larger samples focusing on quasars at higher redshifts, our study provides statistical information on the frequency of H$β$ line variability in a sample of low-redshift Seyfert galaxies.

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Precision cosmology with time delay lenses: high resolution imaging requirements

Lens time delays are a powerful probe of cosmology, provided that the gravitational potential of the main deflector can be modeled with sufficient precision. Recent work has shown that this can be achieved by detailed modeling of the host galaxies of lensed quasars, which appear as "Einstein Rings" in high resolution images. We carry out a systematic exploration of the high resolution imaging required to exploit the thousands of lensed quasars that will be discovered by current and upcoming surveys with the next decade. Specifically, we simulate realistic lens systems as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and ground based adaptive optics images taken with Keck or the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). We compare the performance of these pointed observations with that of images taken by the Euclid (VIS), Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) and Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) surveys. We use as our metric the precision with which the slope $γ'$ of the total mass density profile $ρ_{tot}\propto r^{-γ'}$ for the main deflector can be measured. Ideally, we require that the statistical error on $γ'$ be less than 0.02, such that it is subdominant to other sources of random and systematic uncertainties. We find that survey data will likely have sufficient depth and resolution to meet the target only for the brighter gravitational lens systems, comparable to those discovered by the SDSS survey. For fainter systems, that will be discovered by current and future surveys, targeted follow-up will be required. However, the exposure time required with upcoming facilitites such as JWST, the Keck Next Generation Adaptive Optics System, and TMT, will only be of order a few minutes per system, thus making the follow-up of hundreds of systems a practical and efficient cosmological probe.

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Discovery of two gravitationally lensed quasars in the Dark Energy Survey

We present spectroscopic confirmation of two new lensed quasars via data obtained at the 6.5m Magellan/Baade Telescope. The lens candidates have been selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and WISE based on their multi-band photometry and extended morphology in DES images. Images of DES J0115-5244 show two blue point sources at either side of a red galaxy. Our long-slit data confirm that both point sources are images of the same quasar at $z_{s}=1.64.$ The Einstein Radius estimated from the DES images is $0.51$". DES J2200+0110 is in the area of overlap between DES and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Two blue components are visible in the DES and SDSS images. The SDSS fiber spectrum shows a quasar component at $z_{s}=2.38$ and absorption compatible with Mg II and Fe II at $z_{l}=0.799$, which we tentatively associate with the foreground lens galaxy. The long-slit Magellan spectra show that the blue components are resolved images of the same quasar. The Einstein Radius is $0.68$" corresponding to an enclosed mass of $1.6\times10^{11}\,M_{\odot}.$ Three other candidates were observed and rejected, two being low-redshift pairs of starburst galaxies, and one being a quasar behind a blue star. These first confirmation results provide an important empirical validation of the data-mining and model-based selection that is being applied to the entire DES dataset.

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A Local Baseline of the Black Hole Mass Scaling Relations for Active Galaxies. III. The BH mass - $σ$ relation

We create a baseline of the black hole (BH) mass (MBH) - stellar-velocity dispersion (sigma) relation for active galaxies, using a sample of 66 local (0.02<z<0.09) Seyfert-1 galaxies, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Analysis of SDSS images yields AGN luminosities free of host-galaxy contamination and morphological classification. 51/66 galaxies have spiral morphology. 28 bulges have Sersic index n<2 and are considered candidate pseudo bulges, with eight being definite pseudo bulges based on multiple classification criteria met. Only 4/66 galaxies show sign of interaction/merging. High signal-to-noise ratio Keck spectra provide the width of the broad Hbeta emission line free of FeII emission and stellar absorption. AGN luminosity and Hbeta line widths are used to estimate MBH. The Keck-based spatially-resolved kinematics is used to determine stellar-velocity dispersion within the spheroid effective radius. We find that sigma can vary on average by up to 40% across definitions commonly used in the literature, emphasizing the importance of using self-consistent definitions in comparisons and evolutionary studies. The MBH-sigma relation for our Seyfert-1 galaxies has the same intercept and scatter as that of reverberation-mapped AGNs as well as quiescent galaxies, consistent with the hypothesis that our single epoch MBH estimator and sample selection do not introduce significant biases. Barred galaxies, merging galaxies, and those hosting pseudo bulges do not represent outliers in the MBH-sigma relation. This is in contrast with previous work, although no firm conclusion can be drawn due to the small sample size and limited resolution of the SDSS images.

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High resolution imaging and spectroscopy of the gravitational lens SDSSJ1206+4332: a natural coronagraph at $z=1.789$ and a standard ruler at $z=0.745$

We present spectroscopy and laser guide star adaptive optics (LGSAO) images of the doubly imaged lensed quasar SDSS J1206+4332. We revise the deflector redshift proposed previously to $z_{d}=0.745,$ and measure for the first time its velocity dispersion $σ=(290\pm30)$ km/s. The LGSAO data show the lensed quasar host galaxy stretching over the astroid caustic thus forming an extra pair of merging images, which was previously thought to be an unrelated galaxy in seeing limited data. Owing to the peculiar geometry, the lens acts as a natural coronagraph on the broad-line region of the quasar so that only narrow [O III] emission is found in the fold arc. We use the data to reconstruct the source structure and deflector potential, including nearby perturbers. We reconstruct the point-spread function (PSF) from the quasar images themselves, since no additional point source is present in the field of view. From gravitational lensing and stellar dynamics, we find the slope of the total mass density profile to be $γ^{\prime}=-\logρ/\log r =1.93\pm0.09.$ We discuss the potential of SDSS J1206+4332 for measuring time delay distance (and thus H$_0$ and other cosmological parameters), or as a standard ruler, in combination with the time delay published by the COSMOGRAIL collaboration. We conclude that this system is very promising for cosmography. However, in order to achieve competitive precision and accuracy, an independent characterization of the PSF is needed. Spatially resolved kinematics of the deflector would reduce the uncertainties further. Both are within the reach of current observational facilities.

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The Sloan Lens ACS Survey. XII. Extending Strong Lensing to Lower Masses

We present observational results from a new Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Snapshot program to extend the methods of the Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) Survey to lower lens-galaxy masses. We discover 40 new galaxy-scale strong lenses, which we supplement with 58 previously discovered SLACS lenses. In addition, we determine the posterior PDFs of the Einstein radius for 33 galaxies (18 new and 15 from legacy SLACS data) based on single lensed images. We find a less-than-unity slope of $0.64\pm0.06$ for the $\log_{10} σ_*$-$\log_{10} σ_{\rm SIE}$ relation, which corresponds to a 6-$σ$ evidence that the total mass-density profile of early-type galaxies varies systematically in the sense of being shallower at higher lens-galaxy velocity dispersions. The trend is only significant when single-image systems are considered, highlighting the importance of including both "lenses" and "non-lenses" for an unbiased treatment of the lens population when extending to lower mass ranges. By scaling simple stellar population models to the HST I-band data, we identify a strong trend of increasing dark-matter fraction at higher velocity dispersions, which can be alternatively interpreted as a trend in the stellar initial mass function (IMF) normalization. Consistent with previous findings and the suggestion of a non-universal IMF, we find that a Salpeter IMF is ruled out for galaxies with velocity dispersion less than $180$ km/s. Considered together, our mass-profile and dark-matter-fraction trends with increasing galaxy mass could both be explained by an increasing relative contribution on kiloparsec scales from a dark-matter halo with a spatial profile more extended than that of the stellar component.

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The SL2S Galaxy-scale Lens Sample. V. Dark Matter Halos and Stellar IMF of Massive Early-type Galaxies out to Redshift 0.8

We investigate the cosmic evolution of the internal structure of massive early-type galaxies over half of the age of the Universe. We perform a joint lensing and stellar dynamics analysis of a sample of 81 strong lenses from the SL2S and SLACS surveys and combine the results with a hierarchical Bayesian inference method to measure the distribution of dark matter mass and stellar IMF across the population of massive early-type galaxies. Lensing selection effects are taken into account. We find that the dark matter mass projected within the inner 5 kpc increases for increasing redshift, decreases for increasing stellar mass density, but is roughly constant along the evolutionary tracks of early-type galaxies. The average dark matter slope is consistent with that of an NFW profile, but is not well constrained. The stellar IMF normalization is close to a Salpeter IMF at $\log{M_*} = 11.5$ and scales strongly with increasing stellar mass. No dependence of the IMF on redshift or stellar mass density is detected. The anti-correlation between dark matter mass and stellar mass density supports the idea of mergers being more frequent in more massive dark matter halos.

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Cosmic Evolution of Black Holes and Spheroids. V. The Relation Between Black Hole Mass and Host Galaxy Luminosity for a Sample of 79 Active Galaxies

We investigate the cosmic evolution of the black hole (BH) mass -- bulge luminosity relation using a sample of 52 active galaxies at $z \sim 0.36$ and $z \sim 0.57$ in the BH mass range of $10^{7.4-9.1} M_{\odot}$. By consistently applying multi-component spectral and structural decomposition to high-quality Keck spectra and high-resolution HST images, BH masses ($M_{\rm BH}$) are estimated using the H$β$ broad emission line combined with the 5100 Å nuclear luminosity, and bulge luminosities ($L_{\rm bul}$) are derived from surface photometry. Comparing the resulting $M_{\rm BH}-L_{\rm bul}$ relation to local active galaxies and taking into account selection effects, we find evolution of the form $M_{\rm BH} / L_{\rm bul} \propto (1+z)^γ$ with $γ=1.8\pm0.7$, consistent with BH growth preceding that of the host galaxies. Including an additional sample of 27 active galaxies with $0.5<z<1.9$ taken from the literature and measured in a consistent way, we obtain $γ=0.9\pm0.7$ for the $M_{\rm BH}-L_{\rm bul}$ relation and $γ=0.4\pm0.5$ for the $M_{\rm BH}$--total host galaxy luminosity ($L_{\rm host}$) relation. The results strengthen the findings from our previous studies and provide additional evidence for host-galaxy bulge growth being dominated by disk-to-bulge transformation via minor mergers and/or disk instabilities.

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Cosmological Constraints from the double source plane lens SDSSJ0946+1006

We present constraints on the equation of state of dark energy, $w$, and the total matter density, $Ω_{\mathrm{M}}$, derived from the double-source-plane strong lens SDSSJ0946+1006, the first cosmological measurement with a galaxy-scale double-source-plane lens. By modelling the primary lens with an elliptical power-law mass distribution, and including perturbative lensing by the first source, we are able to constrain the cosmological scaling factor in this system to be $β^{-1}=1.404 \pm 0.016$, which implies $Ω_{\mathrm{M}}= 0.33_{-0.26}^{+0.33}$ for a flat $Λ$ cold dark matter ($Λ$CDM) cosmology. Combining with a cosmic microwave background prior from Planck, we find $w$ = $-1.17^{+0.20}_{-0.21}$ assuming a flat $w$CDM cosmology. This inference shifts the posterior by 1$σ$ and improves the precision by 30 per cent with respect to Planck alone, and demonstrates the utility of combining simple, galaxy-scale multiple-source-plane lenses with other cosmological probes to improve precision and test for residual systematic biases.

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The evolution of late-type galaxies from CASSOWARY lensing systems

We explore the properties of lensing galaxies and lensed faint sources at redshifts between 1.5 and 3.0. Our sample consists of 9 carefully selected strongly-lensed galaxies discovered by the CASSOWARY survey in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data. We find that, despite some limitations of the original SDSS data, the homogeneous sample of lensing systems can provide a useful insight into lens and source properties. We also explore the limitations of using low-resolution data to model and analyse galaxy-galaxy lensing. We derive the relative alignment of mass and light in fitted lens profiles. The range of magnification extends above 5, hence we are able to analyse potentially small and low-mass galaxies at high redshifts. We confirm the likely evolution of the size-luminosity relation for blue star-forming galaxies as a function of redshift

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