Taking Inventory of the Most Promising Lensed Radio Sources for Constraining Fundamental Properties of Dark Matter

TL;DR

This paper reviews the potential of lensed radio sources for constraining dark matter properties, introduces new search methods for radio lenses, and assesses the population's completeness for future studies.

Contribution

It presents new search techniques for identifying radio gravitational lenses and evaluates the current and potential future populations for dark matter research.

Findings

Successful searches for new radio lenses in existing surveys.

A new method to expand the follow-up population for dark matter studies.

Discussion on the completeness of the current radio lens population.

Abstract

While dark matter (DM) makes up roughly 80% of the total matter in the Universe, its microscopic properties remain one of the biggest questions in Cosmology today. Fortunately, those properties dictate the distribution and form of macro-scale gravitational structures in the universe, allowing for indirect studies which can distinguish between competing particle models. One such avenue for this research is via strong gravitational lensing systems, where dark halos in the lens substructure and along the line of sight perturb image positions and flux. However, the current population of sources suitable for this analysis is limited, especially at radio wavelengths where astrometric perturbations are observable. I will first discuss which properties of lens systems make them especially useful for DM constraints and examine the minimum amount of information necessary for such an experiment. Then, I present the results of two successful searches for new radio lenses in existing radio and optical surveys, utilizing a new method to expand the potential follow-up population for dark matter studies in the future. I conclude with a discussion of the completeness of this population.