A Comparison of Cosmological Models Using Time Delay Lenses

Abstract

The use of time-delay gravitational lenses to examine the cosmological expansion introduces a new standard ruler with which to test theoretical models. The sample suitable for this kind of work now includes 12 lens systems, which have thus far been used solely for optimizing the parameters of $\Lambda$CDM. In this paper, we broaden the base of support for this new, important cosmic probe by using these observations to carry out a one-on-one comparison between {\it competing} models. The currently available sample indicates a likelihood of $\sim 70-80$ that the $R_{\mathrm{h}}=ct$ Universe is the correct cosmology versus $\sim 20-30$ for the standard model. This possibly interesting result reinforces the need to greatly expand the sample of time-delay lenses, e.g., with the successful implementation of the Dark Energy Survey, the VST ATLAS survey, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. In anticipation of a greatly expanded catalog of time-delay lenses identified with these surveys, we have produced synthetic samples to estimate how large they would have to be in order to rule out either model at a $\sim 99.7$ confidence level. We find that if the real cosmology is $\Lambda$CDM, a sample of $\sim 150$ time-delay lenses would be sufficient to rule out $R_{\mathrm{h}}=ct$ at this level of accuracy, while $\sim 1,000$ time-delay lenses would be required to rule out $\Lambda$CDM if the real Universe is instead $R_{\mathrm{h}}=ct$. This difference in required sample size reflects the greater number of free parameters available to fit the data with $\Lambda$CDM.

arXiv comment26 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (43)

• Information criteria for astrophysical model selection
• Dissecting the Gravitational Lens B1608+656. II. Precision Measurements of the Hubble Constant, Spatial Curvature, and the Dark Energy Equation of State
• Gravitationally lensed quasars and supernovae in future wide-field optical imaging surveys
• The Structure & Dynamics of Massive Early-type Galaxies: On Homology, Isothermality and Isotropy inside one Effective Radius
• Two accurate time-delay distances from strong lensing: Implications for cosmology
• Detection of a Dark Substructure through Gravitational Imaging
• Revealing the properties of dark matter in the merging cluster MACSJ0025.4-1222
• Improved redshifts for SDSS quasar spectra
• The Sloan-Lens ACS Survey II: stellar populations and internal structure of early-type lens galaxies
• Semi-linear gravitational lens inversion
• The R_h = ct Universe
• HST Observations of 10 Two-Image Gravitational Lenses
• The internal structure of the lens PG1115+080: breaking degeneracies in the value of the Hubble Constant
• Gravitational Lens Time Delays: A Statistical Assessment of Lens Model Dependences and Implications for the Global Hubble Constant
• The Effective Number Density of Galaxies for Weak Lensing Measurements in the LSST Project
• Self-Similar Models for the Mass Profiles of Early-type Lens Galaxies
• The Cosmic Horizon
• Identifying Lenses with Small-Scale Structure. I. Cusp Lenses
• The Time Delay in the Gravitational Lens PKS 1830-211
• Constraints on cosmological models from strong gravitational lensing systems
• Cosmic Chronometers in the R_h=ct Universe
• An Optical Time-Delay for the Lensed BAL Quasar HE2149-2745
• COSMOGRAIL: the COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses I. How to sample the light curves of gravitationally lensed quasars to measure accurate time delays
• Analytic Time Delays and H_0 Estimates for Gravitational Lenses
• Discovery of a cold stellar stream in the ATLAS DR1 data
• The Gamma-Ray Burst Hubble Diagram and Its Cosmological Implications
• Models for the lens and source of B0218+357 - A LensClean approach to determine H0
• Gravitational lenses as cosmic rulers: density of dark matter and dark energy from time delays and velocity dispersions
• Strong Gravitational Lensing Time Delay Statistics and the Density Profile of Dark Halos
• A New Estimate of the Hubble Time with Improved Modeling of Gravitational Lenses
• COSMOGRAIL: the COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses V. The time delay in SDSS J1650+4251
• An estimate of H_0 from Keck spectroscopy of the gravitational lens system 0957+561
• Photometric Redshifts for the Dark Energy Survey and VISTA and Implications for Large Scale Structure
• The Hubble constant inferred from 18 time-delay lenses
• Hubble constant and dark energy inferred from free-form determined time delay distances
• Lens Galaxy Properties of SBS1520+530: Insights from Keck Spectroscopy and AO Imaging
• Differential X-ray Absorption and Dust-To-Gas Ratios of the Lens Galaxies SBS0909+523, FBQS0951+2635, and B1152+199
• Around the Clock Observations of the Q0957+561 A,B Gravitationally Lensed Quasar II: Results for the second observing season
• Time delay between images of the lensed quasar UM673
• Chandra Observations of Gravitational Lenses B1600+434 and B1608+656
• Confirmation of two extended objects along the line of sight to PKS1830-211 with ESO-VLT adaptive optics imaging
• Bayesian approach to gravitational lens model selection: constraining H_0 with a selected sample of strong lenses
• Optical Astronomical Facilities at Nainital, India

Cited by in corpus (24)

• A comparison of the R_h=ct and LCDM cosmologies using the Cosmic Distance Duality Relation
• The Linear Growth of Structure in the R_h=ct Universe
• Probing the cosmic distance duality relation using time delay lenses
• On Recent Claims Concerning the R_h=ct Universe
• A Test of Cosmological Models using high-z Measurements of H(z)
• Reconstruction of the HII Galaxy Hubble Diagram using Gaussian Processes
• Alcock-Paczynski Test with Model-independent BAO Data
• Strongly Lensed Gravitational Waves and Electromagnetic Signals as Powerful Cosmic Rulers
• Cosmological test with the QSO Hubble diagram
• A Comparison of Cosmological Models Using Strong Gravitational Lensing Galaxies
• The Epoch of Reionization in the R_h=ct Universe
• New database for a sample of optically bright lensed quasars in the northern hemisphere
• The Age-Redshift Relationship of Old Passive Galaxies
• Probing cosmic acceleration by strong gravitational lensing systems
• Cosmological test using strong gravitational lensing systems
• Friedmann-Robertson-Walker models do not require zero active mass
• The $R_{\mathrm{h}}=ct$ universe and quintessence
• Unseen Progenitors of Luminous High-z Quasars in the R_h=ct Universe
• Puzzling initial conditions in the R_h=ct model
• Model Selection based on the Angular-Diameter Distance to the Compact Structure in Radio Quasars
• Gravitational lens time-delay as a probe of a possible time variation of the fine-structure constant
• Cosmological Perturbations without Inflation
• Tantalizing New Physics from the Cosmic Purview
• Model selection using time-delay lenses