The dark matter content of lensing galaxies at 1.5 R_e


Abstract in English

Many gravitationally lensed quasars exhibit flux ratio anomalies that cannot be explained under the hypothesis that the lensing potential is smooth on scales smaller than one kpc. Micro-lensing by stars is a natural source of granularity in the lens potential. The character of the expected fluctuations due to micro-lensing depends sensitively on the relative surface densities of micro-lenses (stars) and smoothly distributed (dark) matter. Observations of flux ratios may therefore be used to infer the ratio of stellar to dark matter along the line of sight -- typically at impact parameters 1.5 times the half light radius. Several recently discovered systems have anomalies that would seem to be explained by micro-lensing only by demanding that 70-90% of the matter along the line of sight be smoothly distributed.

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