Line-of-sight effects on strong lensing time delays

dc.contributor.advisorMarchetti, Lucia
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, Daniel
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-30T12:28:53Z
dc.date.available2024-04-30T12:28:53Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.date.updated2024-04-30T08:29:01Z
dc.description.abstractThe effects of matter along the line-of-sight in strong gravitational lensing systems is widely recognised to have a non-negligible effect on lensing observables. In this project, we explore the Dominant-Lens Approximation, a new theoretical formalism designed to parameterise these effects, paying particular attention to degeneracies between line-of-sight effects and the properties of the main lens, and the influence of these effects on measurements of strong lensing time delays. We implement this formalism in the tidal regime as a new sub-package in the open-source lens modelling software package lenstronomy. Using this implementation, we generate mock lens images and measured time delay data, and investigate the prospects of measuring properties of the line-of-sight from these data. We also explore the consequences of under-parameterised line-of-sight effects on measurements of the Hubble constant from time delay cosmography. We find that images of lensed extended sources are those from which precise measurements of line-of-sight shears are most likely to be obtained, but that lensed point source images and time delay data can serve as valuable constraints on noisier images. For measurements of both the shear and the Hubble constant, under-parameterised lens models which exclude the foreground shear term lead to significant biases.
dc.identifier.apacitationJohnson, D. (2023). <i>ETD: Line-of-sight effects on strong lensing time delays</i>. (). ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Astronomy. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39500en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationJohnson, Daniel. <i>"ETD: Line-of-sight effects on strong lensing time delays."</i> ., ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Astronomy, 2023. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39500en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationJohnson, D. 2023. ETD: Line-of-sight effects on strong lensing time delays. . ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Astronomy. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39500en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Johnson, Daniel AB - The effects of matter along the line-of-sight in strong gravitational lensing systems is widely recognised to have a non-negligible effect on lensing observables. In this project, we explore the Dominant-Lens Approximation, a new theoretical formalism designed to parameterise these effects, paying particular attention to degeneracies between line-of-sight effects and the properties of the main lens, and the influence of these effects on measurements of strong lensing time delays. We implement this formalism in the tidal regime as a new sub-package in the open-source lens modelling software package lenstronomy. Using this implementation, we generate mock lens images and measured time delay data, and investigate the prospects of measuring properties of the line-of-sight from these data. We also explore the consequences of under-parameterised line-of-sight effects on measurements of the Hubble constant from time delay cosmography. We find that images of lensed extended sources are those from which precise measurements of line-of-sight shears are most likely to be obtained, but that lensed point source images and time delay data can serve as valuable constraints on noisier images. For measurements of both the shear and the Hubble constant, under-parameterised lens models which exclude the foreground shear term lead to significant biases. DA - 2023 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Astronomy LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2023 T1 - ETD: Line-of-sight effects on strong lensing time delays TI - ETD: Line-of-sight effects on strong lensing time delays UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39500 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/39500
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationJohnson D. ETD: Line-of-sight effects on strong lensing time delays. []. ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Astronomy, 2023 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39500en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Astronomy
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Science
dc.subjectAstronomy
dc.titleLine-of-sight effects on strong lensing time delays
dc.typeThesis / Dissertation
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMSc
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