No Arabic abstract
In this paper, we present a scheme to investigate the opacity of the Universe in a cosmological-model-independent way, with the combination of current and future measurements of type Ia supernova sample and galactic-scale strong gravitational lensing systems with SNe Ia acting as background sources. The observational data include the current newly-compiled SNe Ia data (Pantheon sample) and simulated sample of SNe Ia observed by the forthcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) survey, which are taken for luminosity distances ($D_L$) possibly affected by the cosmic opacity, as well as strongly lensed SNe Ia observed by the LSST, which are responsible for providing the observed time-delay distance ($D_{Delta t}$) unaffected by the cosmic opacity. Two parameterizations, $tau(z)=2beta z$ and $tau(z)=(1+z)^{2beta}-1$ are adopted for the optical depth associated to the cosmic absorption. Focusing on only one specific type of standard cosmological probe, this provides an original method to measure cosmic opacity at high precision. Working on the simulated sample of strongly lensed SNe Ia observed by the LSST in 10 year $z$-band search, our results show that, with the combination of the current newly-compiled SNe Ia data (Pantheon sample), there is no significant deviation from the transparency of the Universe at the current observational data level. Moreover, strongly lensed SNe Ia in a 10 year LSST $z$-band search would produce more robust constraints on the validity of cosmic transparency (at the precision of $Deltabeta=10^{-2}$), with a larger sample of unlensed SNe Ia detected in future LSST survey. We have also discussed the ways in which our methodology could be improved, with the combination of current and future available data in gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) domain.
Probing the speed of light is as an important test of General Relativity but the measurements of $c$ using objects in the distant universe have been almost completely unexplored. In this letter, we propose an idea to use the multiple measurements of galactic-scale strong gravitational lensing systems with type Ia supernova acting as background sources to estimate the speed of light. This provides an original method to measure the speed of light using objects located at different redshifts which emitted their light in a distant past. Moreover, we predict that strongly lensed SNe Ia observed by the LSST would produce robust constraints on $Delta c/c$ at the level of $10^{-3}$. We also discuss whether the future surveys such as LSST may succeed in detecting any hypothetical variation of $c$ predicted by theories in which fundamental constants have dynamical nature.
We report the results from spectroscopic observations of the multiple images of the strongly lensed Type Ia supernova (SN Ia), iPTF16geu, obtained with ground based telescopes and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). From a single epoch of slitless spectroscopy with HST, we can resolve spectra of individual lensed supernova images for the first time. This allows us to perform an independent measurement of the time-delay between the two brightest images, $Delta t = 1.4 pm 5.0$ days, which is consistent with the time-delay measured from the light-curves. We also present measurements of narrow emission and absorption lines characterizing the interstellar medium in the host galaxy at z=0.4087, as well as in the foreground lensing galaxy at z=0.2163. We detect strong Na ID absorption in the host galaxy, indicating that iPTF16geu belongs to a subclass of SNe Ia displaying anomalously large Na ID column densities in comparison to the amount of dust extinction derived from their light curves. For the deflecting galaxy, we refine the measurement of the velocity dispersion, $sigma = 129 pm 4$ km/s, which significantly constrains the lens model. Since the time-delay between the SN images is negligible, we can use unresolved ground based spectroscopy, boosted by a factor ~70 from lensing magnification, to study the properties of a high-z SN Ia with unprecedented signal-to-noise ratio. The spectral properties of the supernova, such as pseudo-Equivalent widths of several absorption features and velocities of the Si II-line indicate that iPTF16geu, besides being lensed, is a normal SN Ia, indistinguishable from well-studied ones in the local universe, providing support for the use of SNe Ia in precision cosmology. We do not detect any significant deviations of the SN spectral energy distribution from microlensing of the SN photosphere by stars and compact objects in the lensing galaxy.
We use the newly published 28 observational Hubble parameter data ($H(z)$) and current largest SNe Ia samples (Union2.1) to test whether the universe is transparent. Three cosmological-model-independent methods (nearby SNe Ia method, interpolation method and smoothing method) are proposed through comparing opacity-free distance modulus from Hubble parameter data and opacity-dependent distance modulus from SNe Ia . Two parameterizations, $tau(z)=2epsilon z$ and $tau(z)=(1+z)^{2epsilon}-1$ are adopted for the optical depth associated to the cosmic absorption. We find that the results are not sensitive to the methods and parameterizations. Our results support a transparent universe.
We report lensing magnifications, extinction, and time-delay estimates for the first resolved, multiply-imaged Type Ia supernova iPTF16geu, at $z = 0.409$, using $Hubble,Space,Telescope$ ($HST$) observations in combination with supporting ground-based data. Multi-band photometry of the resolved images provides unique information about the differential dimming due to dust in the lensing galaxy. Using $HST$ and Keck AO reference images taken after the SN faded, we obtain a total lensing magnification for iPTF16geu of $mu = 67.8^{+2.6}_{-2.9}$, accounting for extinction in the host and lensing galaxy. As expected from the symmetry of the system, we measure very short time-delays for the three fainter images with respect to the brightest one: -0.23 $pm$ 0.99, -1.43 $pm$ 0.74 and 1.36 $pm$ 1.07 days. Interestingly, we find large differences between the magnifications of the four supernova images, even after accounting for uncertainties in the extinction corrections: $Delta m_1 = -3.88^{+0.07}_{-0.06}$, $Delta m_2 = -2.99^{+0.09}_{-0.08}$, $Delta m_3 = -2.19^{+0.14}_{-0.15}$ and $Delta m_4 = -2.40^{+0.14}_{-0.12}$ mag, discrepant with model predictions suggesting similar image brightnesses. A possible explanation for the large differences is gravitational lensing by substructures, micro- or millilensing, in addition to the large scale lens causing the image separations. We find that the inferred magnification is insensitive to the assumptions about the dust properties in the host and lens galaxy.
We report the discovery of a multiply-imaged gravitationally lensed Type Ia supernova, iPTF16geu (SN 2016geu), at redshift $z=0.409$. This phenomenon could be identified because the light from the stellar explosion was magnified more than fifty times by the curvature of space around matter in an intervening galaxy. We used high spatial resolution observations to resolve four images of the lensed supernova, approximately 0.3 from the center of the foreground galaxy. The observations probe a physical scale of $sim$1 kiloparsec, smaller than what is typical in other studies of extragalactic gravitational lensing. The large magnification and symmetric image configuration implies close alignment between the line-of-sight to the supernova and the lens. The relative magnifications of the four images provide evidence for sub-structures in the lensing galaxy.