Strong Lensing, Stellar Dynamics, and the Initial Mass Function in Elliptical Galaxies

该项目将结合使用强引力透镜和恒星动力学约束来研究椭圆星系中暗物质和恒星质量的分布。学生将使用来自MUSE摄谱仪的最先进的积分场光谱学来测量透镜的两种特殊情况下的空间分辨恒星运动学：（1）透镜质量由恒星主导的邻近透镜，以测试恒星初始质量函数的变化，以及（2）双源平面透镜，两个背景源的存在对质量分布产生了更丰富的约束，以及测量宇宙学参数的可能性。这些项目将使用来自ESO甚大望远镜的现有和传入数据。在该项目的后期，学生将利用MUSE获得的专业知识，开发一个详细的科学案例，用于用未来的超大望远镜观测强透镜星系，其动机是达勒姆在HARMONI摄谱仪联盟中的作用。

This project will use a combination of strong gravitational lensing and stellar dynamical constraints to study the distribution of dark and stellar mass in elliptical galaxies. The student will use state-of-the-art integral field spectroscopy from the MUSE spectrograph to measure the spatially-resolved stellar kinematics for two special cases of lens: (1) nearby lenses in which the lensing mass is dominated by stars, to test for variations in the stellar initial mass function, and (2) double-source plane lenses, where the presence of two background sources yields richer constraints on the mass distribution, as well as possibilities for measuring cosmological parameters. These projects will use existing and incoming data from the ESO Very Large Telescope. Later in the project, the student will use the expertise gained with MUSE to develop a detailed science case for observing strong-lens galaxies with the future Extremely Large Telescope, motivated by Durham's role in the HARMONI spectrograph consortium.