Hubble Frontier Fields : A High-Precision Strong-Lensing Mass Model of the Massive Galaxy Cluster Abell 2744 using 180 Multiple Images

TL;DR

This paper presents a highly precise mass model of galaxy cluster Abell 2744 using deep Hubble Frontier Fields data, identifying new multiple images and improving lensing predictions to aid studies of the early universe.

Contribution

The study introduces a refined parametric mass model of Abell 2744 with a lower RMS error and higher magnification accuracy, utilizing new multiple images and correcting previous misidentifications.

Findings

Identified 34 new multiply imaged galaxies, totaling 61 systems.

Achieved a 0.69 arcsecond RMS error in image position predictions.

Measured the cluster's mass with 1% precision within 200 kpc.

Abstract

We present a high-precision mass model of galaxy cluster Abell 2744, based on a strong-gravitational-lensing analysis of the \emph{Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields} (HFF) imaging data, which now include both \emph{Advanced Camera for Surveys} and \emph{Wide-Field Camera 3} observations to the final depth. Taking advantage of the unprecedented depth of the visible and near-infrared data, we identify 34 new multiply imaged galaxies, bringing the total to 61, comprising 181 individual lensed images. In the process, we correct previous erroneous identifications and positions of multiple systems in the northern part of the cluster core. With the \textsc{Lenstool} software and the new sets of multiple images, we model the cluster using two cluster-scale dark matter halos plus galaxy-scale halos for the cluster members. Our best-fit model predicts image positions with an \emph{RMS} error of 0.69$\arcsec$, which constitutes an improvement by almost a factor of two over previous parametric models of this cluster. We measure the total projected mass inside a 200~kpc aperture as ($2.162\pm 0.005$)$\times 10^{14}M_{\odot}$, thus reaching 1\% level precision for the second time, following the recent HFF measurement of MACSJ0416.1-2403. Importantly, the higher quality of the mass model translates into an overall improvement by a factor of 4 of the derived magnification factor. % for the high-redshift lensed background galaxies. Together with our previous HFF gravitational lensing analysis, this work demonstrates that the HFF data enables high-precision mass measurements for massive galaxy clusters and the derivation of robust magnification maps to probe the early Universe.