ALMA Measurement of 10 kpc-scale Lensing Power Spectra towards the Lensed Quasar MG J0414+0534

TL;DR

This study measures the lensing power spectra on 1 arcsecond scales towards the quadruply lensed quasar MG J0414+0534 using ALMA, providing new bounds that support cold dark matter models and revealing potential small-scale structures.

Contribution

First measurement of lensing power spectra on 1 arcsecond scales towards MG J0414+0534 using a novel non-parametric method with ALMA data.

Findings

Measured convergence, astrometric shift, and potential power spectra bounds.

Results consistent with cold dark matter halo predictions.

Detected possible faint emission from a nearby object Y.

Abstract

The lensing power spectra for gravitational potential, astrometric shift, and convergence perturbations are powerful probes to investigate dark matter structures on small scales. We report the first lower and upper bounds of these lensing power spectra on angular scale $\sim 1$arcsec towards the anomalous quadruply lensed quasar MG$\,$J0414+0534 at a redshift $z=2.639$. To obtain the spectra, we conducted observations of MG$\,$J0414+0534 using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) with high angular resolution (0.02 arcsec to 0.05 arcsec). We developed a new partially non-parametric method in which Fourier coefficients of potential perturbation are adjusted to minimize the difference between linear combinations of weighted mean de-lensed images. Using positions of radio jet components, extended dust emission on scales $>1\,$kpc, and mid-infrared flux ratios, the range of measured convergence, astrometric shift, and potential powers at an angular scale of $\sim 1.1$arcsec (corresponding to an angular wave number of $l=1.2\times 10^6$ or $\sim 9\,$kpc in the primary lens plane) within $1\,\sigma$ are $\varDelta_\kappa=0.021-0.028$, $\varDelta_\alpha =7-9\,$mas, and $\varDelta_\psi=1.2-1.6\,$$\textrm{mas}^2$, respectively. Our result is consistent with the predicted abundance of halos in the line of sight and subhalos in cold dark matter models. Our partially non-parametric lens models suggest a presence of a clump in the vicinity of object Y, a possible dusty dwarf galaxy and some small clumps in the vicinity of other lensed quadruple images. Although much fainter than the previous report, we detected weak continuum emission possibly from object Y with a peak flux of $\sim 100\,\mu \textrm{Jy}\, \textrm{beam} ^{-1}$ at the $\sim 4\,\sigma$ level.