The impact of $\Lambda$CDM substructure and baryon-dark matter transition on the image positions of quad galaxy lenses

TL;DR

This study investigates how substructure and baryon-dark matter transition in galaxies affect the positions of quad galaxy lens images, finding that these factors alone cannot fully explain observed distributions, but combined effects show promise.

Contribution

The paper introduces a model-free approach using relative polar image angles and the Fundamental Surface of Quads to analyze lens mass distributions, highlighting the role of baryon-dark matter transition effects.

Findings

Substructure in ΛCDM simulations is insufficient to match observed quad distributions.

Baryon-dark matter transition effects can influence image angles.

Combined asymmetries may account for observed quad properties.

Abstract

The positions of multiple images in galaxy lenses are related to the galaxy mass distribution. Smooth elliptical mass profiles were previously shown to be inadequate in reproducing the quad population. In this paper, we explore the deviations from such smooth elliptical mass distributions. Unlike most other work, we use a model-free approach based on the relative polar image angles of quads, and their position in 3D space with respect to the Fundamental Surface of Quads. The FSQ is defined by quads produced by elliptical lenses. We have generated thousands of quads from synthetic populations of lenses with substructure consistent with $\Lambda$CDM simulations, and found that such perturbations are not sufficient to match the observed distribution of quads relative to the FSQ. The result is unchanged even when subhalo masses are increased by a factor of ten, and the most optimistic lensing selection bias is applied. We then produce quads from galaxies created using two components, representing baryons and dark matter. The transition from the mass being dominated by baryons in inner radii to being dominated by dark matter in outer radii can carry with it asymmetries, which would affect relative image angles. We run preliminary experiments using lenses with two elliptical mass components with nonidentical axis ratios and position angles, perturbations from ellipticity in the form of nonzero Fourier coefficients $a_4$ and $a_6$, and artificially offset ellipse centers as a proxy for asymmetry at image radii. We show that combination of these effects is a promising way of accounting for quad population properties. We conclude that the quad population provides a unique and sensitive tool for constraining detailed mass distribution in the centers of galaxies.