4:00–5:00 pm ERC 401
Host: Alex Drlica-Wagner
Aymeric Galan (MPA) "Careful analysis of strong lensing cluster members using JWST/NIRCam"
Over the past years, it is clear that pushing our understanding regarding the formation and evolution of galaxies over a large redshift range is key in the current context of cosmological “tensions” and the questioning of concordance theories. One among many examples is the increasing use of gravitational lensing to study simultaneously the mass content of foreground galaxies, the morphology of background galaxies and measuring cosmological distances. In particular, massive galaxy clusters and their individual members have recently gain more attention, as they combine numerous strong lensing features with opportunities for transient phenomena detected with ongoing and future surveys (e.g., SNe, microlensing). In this talk I will present the detailed analysis of a stunning strong lensing system belonging to a massive galaxy cluster, based on a combination of recent JWST/NIRCam and VLT/MUSE observations and a novel Bayesian multi-band modelling technique. I will discuss the resulting constraints on the lens mass distribution and source morphology, highlighting the efficiency of the technique to model complex strong lens systems. Finally, I will discuss ongoing efforts to reduce sources of systematic errors in gravitational lensing analyses, a necessity in view of the many systems planned to be analysed in the LSST/Euclid era.
