NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2012B-0481
|
NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2012B-0481 |
|
PI: Chris Fassnacht, UC Davis, cdfassnacht@ucdavis.edu
Address: Physics Dept, UC Davis, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA, 95616, USA
CoI: Tommaso Treu, UC Santa Barbara
CoI: Sherry Suyu, UC Santa Barbara
CoI: Matt Auger, University of Cambridge
CoI: Leon Koopmans, Kapteyn Institute
CoI: Phil Marshall, Oxford University
Title: Quantifying the line-of-sight mass distributions to time-delay lenses
Abstract:
We have recently shown that a single gravitational lens with high-quality
data can place constraints on H_0, w, and Omega_k that are comparable to
constraints from other cosmological probes. Furthermore, since each lens
makes an independent measurement of these quantities, a significant
improvement in precision can be obtained by increasing the sample size. This
establishes lensing as a powerful and independent tool for determining
cosmography, in preparation for the hundreds of time-delay lenses that will
be discovered by future surveys. The largest current contributor to the error
budget from lensing is uncertainty about the line-of-sight mass distribution.
The proposed observations are critical for reducing these uncertainties by
providing redshifts and stellar masses for galaxies in the light cones of the
target lens systems, and will do so with only a modest investment of
observing time.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
|
NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2012B-0481 |
|