Dissecting the 3D structure of elliptical galaxies with gravitational lensing and stellar kinematics

TL;DR

This study combines gravitational lensing and stellar kinematics to analyze the mass distribution and structure of two elliptical galaxies, revealing dark halo properties and stellar initial mass functions.

Contribution

It introduces a flexible axisymmetric two-component mass model applied to real galaxies, integrating lensing and kinematic data for detailed structural insights.

Findings

Dark halos are constrained in inner structure and flattening.

Galaxies are dominated by luminous matter within one effective radius.

Stellar initial mass functions are Salpeter-like.

Abstract

The combination of strong gravitational lensing and stellar kinematics provides a powerful and robust method to investigate the mass and dynamical structure of early-type galaxies. We demonstrate this approach by analysing two massive ellipticals from the XLENS Survey for which both high-resolution HST imaging and X-Shooter spectroscopic observations are available. We adopt a flexible axisymmetric two-component mass model for the lens galaxies, consisting of a generalised NFW dark halo and a realistic self-gravitating stellar mass distribution. For both systems, we put constraints on the dark halo inner structure and flattening, and we find that they are dominated by the luminous component within one effective radius. By comparing the tight inferences on the stellar mass from the combined lensing and dynamics analysis with the values obtained from stellar population studies, we conclude that both galaxies are characterised by a Salpeter-like stellar initial mass function.