The Detection of a Population of Submillimeter-Bright, Strongly-Lensed Galaxies

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that wide-area submillimeter surveys, specifically Herschel data, can efficiently and simply detect strongly-lensed dusty star-forming galaxies with nearly perfect accuracy, aiding astrophysical studies.

Contribution

It introduces a method to identify gravitational lensing events in submillimeter surveys with high efficiency, reducing the time and effort needed for detection.

Findings

Near 100% efficiency in detecting strong gravitational lenses

Wide-area submillimeter surveys are effective for lens identification

Demonstrated method using Herschel data

Abstract

Gravitational lensing is a powerful astrophysical and cosmological probe and is particularly valuable at submillimeter wavelengths for the study of the statistical and individual properties of dusty starforming galaxies. However the identification of gravitational lenses is often time-intensive, involving the sifting of large volumes of imaging or spectroscopic data to find few candidates. We used early data from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey to demonstrate that wide-area submillimeter surveys can simply and easily detect strong gravitational lensing events, with close to 100% efficiency.