The Stellar IMF and Dark Matter Halo of ESO0286: Constraints from Strong Lensing and Dynamics

TL;DR

This study combines strong lensing and stellar dynamics to analyze the mass distribution and IMF of the nearby elliptical galaxy ESO0286, revealing its triaxial shape and constraining the stellar IMF to be not more bottom-heavy than Kroupa.

Contribution

It presents a novel integrated modeling approach using lensing and dynamics to constrain the inner mass structure and IMF of a fast-rotating elliptical galaxy, including its triaxial shape.

Findings

ESO0286 exhibits intrinsic triaxiality despite being a fast rotator.

Strong lensing constrains the total mass at large radii, reducing model uncertainties.

The stellar IMF is constrained to be no more bottom-heavy than Kroupa.

Abstract

The internal mass structure of elliptical galaxies offers critical insights into galaxy formation, yet disentangling stellar mass from dark matter and determining the stellar initial mass function (IMF) remains challenging. We present a detailed analysis of ESO0286-G022 ($z=0.0312$), a rare nearby strong-lens system with a fast-rotating elliptical galaxy, combining high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging with VLT/MUSE integral-field stellar kinematics. We construct axisymmetric and triaxial Schwarzschild orbit-superposition models to reconstruct its intrinsic shape and mass distribution. Despite being a fast rotator, ESO0286 exhibits clear kinematic signatures of intrinsic triaxiality, characterized by rotation along both the major and minor axes, making it only the second such confirmed case. By incorporating the mass enclosed within the Einstein radius from strong lensing as a complementary constraint, we tightly anchor the total mass at large radii. This significantly reduces the uncertainty on the outer mass profile and orbital structure, demonstrating that only models with strong radial anisotropy beyond the IFU field of view are compatible with the data. In the inner regions, we robustly constrain an upper limit for the stellar mass around $r \sim 0.7$ kpc, ruling out an IMF more bottom-heavy than Kroupa, though a gentle gradient toward a slightly heavier central IMF is permitted. This aligns with recent dynamical studies of local massive early-type galaxies but contrasts with heavier IMFs reported for lenses at $z>0.1$. Our work demonstrates the power of combining lensing and dynamical modeling to resolve the detailed inner structure of massive galaxies.