Collaborative Research: Observations and Theory of the Most Powerful Gravitational Lensing Telescopes

宇宙的一大谜团是第一批恒星和星系是如何形成的。天体物理学家实际上可以通过观察宇宙中一些最遥远的星系来回顾过去，这些星系发出的光需要数十亿年才能到达地球。对这些非常遥远的星系进行详细、仔细的研究，对于理解第一批恒星和星系是如何形成的至关重要。不幸的是，识别这些星系非常具有挑战性。该项目旨在利用一种新技术，利用前景星系团的引力透镜效应，放大这些遥远的星系，使它们更容易被探测到。主要研究人员（pi）分析多重透镜平面的新理论框架揭示了沿视界存在由多个结构组成的质量分布和大的综合质量，这些质量分布产生了透镜z ~7源的数量增加了许多倍，特别是在星系亮度函数的微弱端。这些光束是有效的，因为它们在一个大的区域内创造了显著的放大倍率，或高倍率。宇宙学模拟表明，它们是罕见的，但可以通过选择具有最高综合光度的星系的视线来追踪最密集的结构，即发光的红色星系。现在，pi已经在斯隆数字巡天（SDSS）中确定了40个这样的视距。前七个的光谱学证实它们可能是天空中最强大的引力透镜望远镜。该项目将采用综合观测和理论方案，对z ~ 7 ~ 10透镜源进行高效的地面和天基跟踪调查。利用星系光谱学和透镜弧成像来约束每条视距的质量分布，再加上理论建模来生成精确的透镜放大图，pi将对最遥远星系的暗端亮度演化提出第一个限制。这项工作将促进亚利桑那大学和罗格斯大学研究生的培训，使他们能够与高级人员一起进行前沿观测分析和理论建模。扎布多夫是亚利桑那大学女性科学与工程（WISE）分会的成员，她在那里为十几岁的女孩们举办的研讨会上讨论了她的研究。她还将与托霍诺奥哈姆民族的成员和当地学校的学生谈论天文学研究和职业。基顿是罗格斯大学阿雷斯蒂本科生研究中心的主任，这是一个私人捐赠的中心，每年支持大约200个学生研究项目。该项目将通过联合项目负责人的伙伴关系加强研究和教育的基础设施，促进教师的教学和学生的培训和学习，通过公开发布镜头建模软件扩大知识的传播，并可能通过外展增加代表性不足的妇女和印第安人的参与。

A great mystery of the Universe is how the first stars and galaxies formed. Astrophysicists can virtually look back in time by examining some of the most distant galaxies in the Universe, whose light has taken billions of years to reach Earth. Detailed, careful study of these very distant galaxies is critical to understanding how the first stars and galaxies formed. Unfortunately, it is very challenging to identify these galaxies. This project aims to use a new technique that exploits gravitational lensing by foreground clusters of galaxies that magnify these distant galaxies, making them easier to detect.The principal investigators' (PIs') new theoretical framework for analyzing multiple-lensing planes reveals that there are mass distributions consisting of multiple structures along the line-of-sight and large integrated masses that produce a many-fold increase in the number of lensed z ~7 sources, particularly at the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. These beams are effective because they create significant magnification over a large area, or high etendue. Cosmological simulations suggest that they are rare but identifiable by choosing lines-of-sight with the highest integrated luminosities of galaxies that trace the densest structures, i.e., luminous red galaxies. The PIs have now identified 40 such lines-of-sight in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Spectroscopy of the first seven confirms that they are likely the most powerful gravitational lens telescopes in the sky. This project will use a comprehensive observational and theoretical program to enable highly efficient ground- and space-based follow-up surveys for lensed z ~ 7 to 10 sources. Using galaxy spectroscopy and lensed arc imaging to constrain each line-of-sight mass distribution, coupled with theoretical modeling to generate a precise lensing magnification map, the PIs will place the first limits on the faint end luminosity evolution of the most distant galaxies.This work will advance the training of graduate students at The University of Arizona and Rutgers University by allowing them to work with senior personnel on forefront observational analyses and theoretical modeling. Co-PI Zabludoff is involved in The University of Arizona's Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) chapter, where she discusses her research in their workshops for teenage girls. She will also talk about astronomy research and careers with members of the Tohono O'odham Nation and with students in local schools. Co-PI Keeton is the Faculty Director of the Aresty Research Center for Undergraduates at Rutgers, a privately-endowed center that supports approximately 200 student research projects each year. This project will enhance the infrastructure for research and education via the co-PI's partnership, advance the teaching of faculty and the training and learning of students, broaden the dissemination of knowledge through the public release of the lens modeling software, and may increase the participation of underrepresented women and Native Americans through outreach.