A New Estimate of Galaxy Mass-to-Light Ratios from Flexion Lensing Statistics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a flexion lensing method to estimate galaxy mass-to-light ratios in galaxy clusters, providing new insights into cluster mass normalization and galaxy properties.

Contribution

It presents a novel parametric approach using flexion signals to probe cluster member mass and establishes a scaling relation between luminosity and flexion signals.

Findings

Consistent Faber-Jackson slope across clusters

Agreement in galaxy age and morphology relations

Theoretical distinction in cluster normalization mass

Abstract

We perform a flexion based weak gravitational analysis of the first two Hubble Frontier Field clusters: Abell 2744 and MACS 0416. A parametric method for using projected flexion signals as a probe of cluster member mass is described in detail. The normalization and slope of a $L-\theta_E$ (as a proxy for $L-\sigma$) scaling relation in each cluster is determined using measured flexion signals. A parallel field analysis is undertaken concurrently to provide a baseline measure of method effectiveness. We find an agreement in the Faber-Jackson slope $\ell$ associated with galaxy age and morphology for both clusters, as well as theoretical distinction in the cluster normalization mass.