Cafe-Club, Carla CORNIL BAÏOTTO (Instituto de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de Valparaíso),: “Strong lens modeling of rich galaxy clusters”.

Carla CORNIL BAÏOTTO (Instituto de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de Valparaíso): “Strong lens modeling of rich galaxy clusters”.

You can find the schedule of upcoming café-clubs and the video of old ones at http://wiki.lam.fr/geco/CafeClub

Take care,
Carlo, Meriam, Mathilde

ABSTRACT

In the inner core of rich galaxy clusters, gravity can create remarkable visual mirages through the significant bending of light by high concentrations of mass. This phenomenon, known as strong gravitational lensing, magnifies distant galaxies located behind these dense structures, providing an excellent opportunity to study distant sources with enhanced resolution and flux. Strong lens modeling plays a key role in mapping the mass distribution of galaxy clusters and helps us better understand the distribution of dark matter and its role in cluster evolution. In this presentation, I will introduce the concept of strong lensing and detail the approach to model the mass distribution of a galaxy cluster core that hosts a giant arc and multiple images of distant galaxies in the optical, using the software Lenstool. Additionally, we will discuss the impact of the high-disturbance environment observed in radio and X-rays on our results. Strong lensing has applications in various wavelengths, and ALMA, with its high sensitivity and subarcsec resolution, is particularly well-suited for studying dust and molecular gas in lensed galaxies. I will present the two ALMA proposals I submitted in Cycle 10: one focused on studying star formation in a highly magnified, clumpy lensed galaxy at z~1.5, while the other investigates a hypothetical Einstein ring. Finally, I will outline my upcoming research projects in the field of extragalactic radio astronomy, including ALMA data reduction and analysis for my PhD thesis project in Chile.