Giant Arc Statistics in Concord with a Concordance Lambda Cold Dark Matter Universe

2003/06/04 by Joachim Wambsganss, Paul Bode, Jeremiah P. Ostriker · 9 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #CMB cold spot #Cold dark matter #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark matter #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Mass distribution #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Redshift #Source counts #Universe #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/421459

published as Astrophys.J. 606 (2004) L93-L96 · 13 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables, submitted to ApJ (Letters)

arxiv created 2003/06/04 · openalex publication_date 2004/04/15 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

The frequency of giant arcs - highly distorted and strongly gravitationally lensed background galaxies - is a powerful test for cosmological models. Previous comparisons of arc statistics for the currently favored concordance cosmological model (a flat lambda-dominated universe) with observations have shown an apparently large discrepancy. We present here new ray-shooting results, based on a high resolution (1024³ particles in a 320 Mpc/h box) large-scale structure simulation normalized to the WMAP observations. We follow light rays through a pseudo-3D matter distribution approximated by up to 38 lens planes, and evaluate the occurrence of arcs for various source redshifts. We find that the frequency of strongly lensed background sources is a steep function of source redshift: the optical depth for giant arcs increases by a factor of five when the background sources are moved from redshift z_s = 1.0 to z_s = 1.5. This is a consequence of a moderate decrease of the critical surface mass density for lensing, combined with the very steep cluster mass function at the high mass end. Our results are consistent with those of Bartelmann et al. (1998) if we - as they did - restrict all sources to be exactly at z_s = 1. But if we allow for a more realistic distribution of source redshifts extending to or beyond z_s > 1.5, the apparent discrepancy vanishes: the frequency of arcs is increased by about a factor of ten as compared to previous estimates, and results in roughly one arc per 20 square degrees over the sky. This prediction for an LCDM model is then in good agreement with the observed frequency of arcs. Hence we consider the ``missing arc'' problem for a concordance LCDM cosmology to be solved.

Citations

• An Upper Limit on ΩmUsing Lensed Arcs
• Constraints on the Collisional Nature of the Dark Matter from Gravitational Lensing in the Cluster A2218
• The Dark Matter Density Profile of the Lensing Cluster MS 2137−23: A Test of the Cold Dark Matter Paradigm
• Magellan Spectroscopy of the Galaxy Cluster RX J1347.5−1145: Redshift Estimates for the Gravitationally Lensed Arcs
• Arc Statistics in Triaxial Dark Matter Halos: Testing the Collisionless Cold Dark Matter Paradigm
• First‐Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe ( WMAP ) Observations: Determination of Cosmological Parameters
• Precision Cosmology? Not Just Yet . . .
• VLT spectroscopy of galaxies lensed by the AC 114 cluster : implications for the mass model and the study of low-luminosity galaxies at high-redshift.

Cited by

• The Dragonfly Nearby Galaxies Survey. III. The Luminosity Function of the M101 Group
• Predicting the number of giant arcs expected in the next-generation wide-field surveys from space
• Strong lensing statistics and the power spectrum normalisation
• The lensing efficiencies of MACS X-ray-selected versus RCS optically selected galaxy clusters
• Background, foreground and nearby matter influence on strong gravitational lenses
• The Giants Arcs as Modeled by the Superbubbles
• The Lensed Arc Production Efficiency of Galaxy Clusters: A Comparison of Matched Observed and Simulated Samples
• A NEW SURVEY FOR GIANT ARCS
• Cluster arc statistics