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Simulating Weak Gravitational Lensing in the Roman Space Telescope Using JWST Observed Galaxies

Some of the most perplexing mysteries of our Universe are connected to the energy and mater we have been unable to physically observe. Making up about 95% of the Universe, dark energy and dark mater do not emit, absorb, nor reflect any portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, and their existence is only inferred through their effects on the visible mater. For example, gravitational lensing is a phenomenon that refers to the magnification and shearing induced on light from distant galaxies caused by the gravitational potential of foreground mater. The amount of lensing is directly related to the total amount of mater present, not just the mater that emits light. Weak gravitational lensing, when these distortions are not as noticeable, allows for the entirety of the “cosmic web”, or large-scale structure, to be probed during dark mater searches instead of just the areas we know are dense with mater i.e. galaxy clusters. In order to properly measure weak lensing effects, accurate galaxy shape measurements that can be calibrated with simulations are required. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is the next upcoming NASA flagship mission. One of its main goals is elucidating the nature of dark mater and dark energy via ultra-wide field UV-NIR imaging surveys. Roman’s view is 100 times that of the Hubble Space Telescope, and we will be primed to measure large-scale structure in the context of weak lensing studies. In this poster, I will present our efforts to simulate JWST observed galaxies through the eyes of Roman. I will detail how we remove the PSF from a JWST NIRCam imaged galaxy, and add Roman filters and detector effects. We report the comparison between JWST and simulated Roman imaging, and place our results in the context of future weak lensing searches with Roman.

Amethyst S. Barnes↗

NASA NTRS1987

Gravitational lensing by an ensemble of isothermal galaxies

Calculation of 28,000 models of gravitational lensing of a distant quasar by an ensemble of randomly placed galaxies, each having a singular isothermal mass distribuiton, is reported. The average surface mass density was 0.2 of the critical value in all models. It is found that the surface mass density averaged over the area of the smallest circle that encompasses the multiple images is 0.82, only slightly smaller than expected from a simple analytical model of Turner et al. (1984). The probability of getting multiple images is also as large as expected analytically. Gravitational lensing is dominated by the matter in the beam; i.e., by the beam convergence. The cases where the multiple imaging is due to asymmetry in mass distribution (i.e., due to shear) are very rare. Therefore, the observed gravitational-lens candidates for which no lensing object has been detected between the images cannot be a result of asymmetric mass distribution outside the images, at least in a model with randomly distributed galaxies. A surprisingly large number of large separations between the multiple images is found: up to 25 percent of multiple images have their angular separation 2 to 4 times larger than expected in a simple analytical model.

Katz, Neal↗

NASA NTRS1989

Gravitational lensing by a smoothly variable surface mass density

The statistical properties of gravitational lensing due to smooth but nonuniform distributions of matter are considered. It is found that a majority of triple images had a parity characteristic for 'shear-induced' lensing. Almost all cases of triple or multiple imaging were associated with large surface density enhancements, and lensing objects were present between the images. Thus, the observed gravitational lens candidates for which no lensing object has been detected between the images are unlikely to be a result of asymmetric distribution of mass external to the image circle. In a model with smoothly variable surface mass density, moderately and highly amplified images tended to be single rather than multiple. An opposite trend was found in models which had singularities in the surface mass distribution.

Paczynski, Bohdan↗

NASA NTRS1992

Probability distributions for the magnification of quasars due to microlensing

Gravitational microlensing can magnify the flux of a lensed quasar considerably and therefore possibly influence quasar source counts or the observed quasar luminosity function. A large number of distributions of magnification probabilities due to gravitational microlensing for finite sources are presented, with a reasonable coverage of microlensing parameter space (i.e., surface mass density, external shear, mass spectrum of lensing objects). These probability distributions were obtained from smoothing two-dimensional magnification patterns with Gaussian source profiles. Different source sizes ranging from 10 exp 14 cm to 5 x 10 exp 16 cm were explored. The probability distributions show a large variety of shapes. Coefficients of fitted slopes for large magnifications are presented.

Wambsganss, Joachim↗

NASA NTRS2023

DES Y3 + KiDS-1000: Consistent Cosmology Combining Cosmic Shear Surveys

We present a joint cosmic shear analysis of the Dark Energy Survey (DES Y3) and the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS-1000) in a collaborative effort between the two survey teams. We find consistent cosmological parameter constraints between DES Y3 and KiDS-1000 which, when combined in a joint-survey analysis, constrain the parameter S 8 =σ 8 √(Ω m /0.3) with a mean value of 0.790 +0.018 −0.014. The mean marginal is lower than the maximum a posteriori estimate, S 8 =0.801, owing to skewness in the marginal distribution and projection effects in the multi-dimensional parameter space. Our results are consistent with S 8 constraints from observations of the cosmic microwave background by Planck, with agreement at the 1.7 σ level. We use a Hybrid analysis pipeline, defined from a mock survey study quantifying the impact of the different analysis choices originally adopted by each survey team. We review intrinsic alignment models, baryon feedback mitigation strategies, priors, samplers and models of the non-linear matter power spectrum.

cosmology↗

NASA NTRS1990

Weak gravitational lensing due to large-scale structure of the universe

The effect of the large-scale structure of the universe on the propagation of light rays is studied. The development of the large-scale density fluctuations in the omega = 1 universe is calculated within the cold dark matter scenario using a smooth particle approximation. The propagation of about 10 to the 6th random light rays between the redshift z = 5 and the observer was followed. It is found that the effect of shear is negligible, and the amplification of single images is dominated by the matter in the beam. The spread of amplifications is very small. Therefore, the filled-beam approximation is very good for studies of strong lensing by galaxies or clusters of galaxies. In the simulation, the column density was averaged over a comoving area of approximately (1/h Mpc)-squared. No case of a strong gravitational lensing was found, i.e., no 'over-focused' image that would suggest that a few images might be present. Therefore, the large-scale structure of the universe as it is presently known does not produce multiple images with gravitational lensing on a scale larger than clusters of galaxies.

Jaroszynski, Michal↗

NASA NTRS1990

An analytical approach to gravitational lensing by an ensemble of axisymmetric lenses

The problem of gravitational lensing by an ensemble of identical axisymmetric lenses randomly distributed on a single lens plane is considered and a formal expression is derived for the joint probability density of finding shear and convergence at a random point on the plane. The amplification probability for a source can be accurately estimated from the distribution in shear and convergence. This method is applied to two cases: lensing by an ensemble of point masses and by an ensemble of objects with Gaussian surface mass density. There is no convergence for point masses whereas shear is negligible for wide Gaussian lenses.

Lee, Man Hoi↗

NASA NTRS1987

Gravitational lensing of supernovae by dark matter candidates of mass M greater than about 0.001 solar masses

A review is presented concerning the gravitational lensing of supernovae by intervening condensed objects, including dark matter candidates such as dim stars and black holes. the expansion of the supernova beam within the lens produces characteristic time-dependent amplification and polarization which depend upon the mass of the lens. The effects of the shearing of the beam due to surrounding masses are considered, although the study of these effects is confined to isolated masses whose size is much less than that of the supernova (about 10 to the 15th cm). Equations for the effects of lensing and graphs comparing these effects in different classes of supernovae are compared. It is found that candidates for lensing would be those supernovae at least as bright as their parent galaxy, or above the range of luminosities expected for their spectral class.

Wagoner, Robert V.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Gravitational lensing by a smoothly variable three-dimensional mass distribution

A smooth three-dimensional mass distribution is approximated by a model with multiple thin screens, with surface mass density varying smoothly on each screen. It is found that 16 screens are sufficient for a good approximation of the three-dimensional distribution of matter. It is also found that in this multiscreen model the distribution of amplifications of single images is dominated by the convergence due to matter within the beam. The shear caused by matter outside the beam has no significant effect. This finding considerably simplifies the modeling of lensing by a smooth three-dimensional mass distribution by effectively reducing the problem to one dimension, as it is sufficient to know the mass distribution along a straight light ray.

Lee, Man Hoi↗

NASA NTRS1987

An analytically soluble problem in fully nonlinear statistical gravitational lensing

The amplification probability distribution p(I)dI for a point source behind a random star field which acts as the deflector exhibits a I exp-3 behavior for large amplification, as can be shown from the universality of the lens equation near critical lines. In this paper it is shown that the amplitude of the I exp-3 tail can be derived exactly for arbitrary mass distribution of the stars, surface mass density of stars and smoothly distributed matter, and large-scale shear. This is then compared with the corresponding linear result.

Schneider, P.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Pixelation Effects in Weak Lensing

Weak gravitational lensing can be used to investigate both dark matter and dark energy but requires accurate measurements of the shapes of faint, distant galaxies. Such measurements are hindered by the finite resolution and pixel scale of digital cameras. We investigate the optimum choice of pixel scale for a space-based mission, using the engineering model and survey strategy of the proposed Supernova Acceleration Probe as a baseline. We do this by simulating realistic astronomical images containing a known input shear signal and then attempting to recover the signal using the Rhodes, Refregier, and Groth algorithm. We find that the quality of shear measurement is always improved by smaller pixels. However, in practice, telescopes are usually limited to a finite number of pixels and operational life span, so the total area of a survey increases with pixel size. We therefore fix the survey lifetime and the number of pixels in the focal plane while varying the pixel scale, thereby effectively varying the survey size. In a pure trade-off for image resolution versus survey area, we find that measurements of the matter power spectrum would have minimum statistical error with a pixel scale of 0.09' for a 0.14' FWHM point-spread function (PSF). The pixel scale could be increased to ~0.16' if images dithered by exactly half-pixel offsets were always available. Some of our results do depend on our adopted shape measurement method and should be regarded as an upper limit: future pipelines may require smaller pixels to overcome systematic floors not yet accessible, and, in certain circumstances, measuring the shape of the PSF might be more difficult than those of galaxies. However, the relative trends in our analysis are robust, especially those of the surface density of resolved galaxies. Our approach thus provides a snapshot of potential in available technology, and a practical counterpart to analytic studies of pixelation, which necessarily assume an idealized shape measurement method.

gravitational lensing↗

NASA NTRS1995

Femtolensing: Beyond the semiclassical approximation

Femtolensoing is a gravitational lensing effect in which the magnification is a function not only of the position and sizes of the source and lens, but also of the wavelength of light. Femtolensing is the only known effect of 10(exp -13) - 10(exp -16) solar mass) dark-matter objects and may possibly be detectable in cosmological gamma-ray burst spectra. We present a new and efficient algorithm for femtolensing calculation in general potentials. The physical optics results presented here differ at low frequencies from the semiclassical approximation, in which the flux is attributed to a finite number of mutually coherent images. At higher frequencies, our results agree well with the semicalssical predictions. Applying our method to a point-mass lens with external shear, we find complex events that have structure at both large and small spectral resolution. In this way, we show that femtolensing may be observable for lenses up to 10(exp -11) solar mass, much larger than previously believed. Additionally, we discuss the possibility of a search femtolensing of white dwarfs in the Large Magellanic Cloud at optical wavelengths.

Ulmer, Andrew↗

NASA NTRS1986

Random scattering approach to gravitational microlensing

Small random deflections of a narrow beam of radiation due to gravitational scattering by stars randomly distributed within the deflector plane are considered. Using a Fouriere transform method, the probability of scattering is obtained as a function of scattering angle for an arbitrary number of stars with an arbitrary distribution of masses. The probability density, expressed in proper units, depends on one parameter only: the effective number of stars. At small scattering angles the density is a Gaussian, and at large angles it falls off as the scattering angle to the minus fourth power. The probability distribution for scatterings is simply related to the angular distribution of the surface brightness of a macroimage, averaged over many microimages. The isophotes are ellipses, with the ratio of the major axis to the minor axis, determined by the dimensionless surface mass density and the shear of the lensing system. The number of stars that has to be included in the modeling of microlensing is proportional to the amplification due to the macrolens, and to the square of the dimensionless surface mass density.

Katz, N.↗