Measuring line-of-sight shear with Einstein rings: a proof of concept

Abstract

Line-of-sight effects in strong gravitational lensing have long been treated as a nuisance. However, it was recently proposed that the line-of-sight shear could be a cosmological observable in its own right, if it is not degenerate with lens model parameters. We firstly demonstrate that the line-of-sight shear can be accurately measured from a simple simulated strong lensing image with percent precision. We then extend our analysis to more complex simulated images and stress test the recovery of the line-of-sight shear when using deficient fitting models, finding that it escapes from degeneracies with lens model parameters, albeit at the expense of the precision. Lastly, we check the validity of the tidal approximation by simulating and fitting an image generated in the presence of many line-of-sight dark matter haloes, finding that an explicit violation of the tidal approximation does not necessarily prevent one from measuring the line-of-sight shear.

16 + 3 pages, 16 figures, matches version published in MNRAS (lens modelling and analysis results updated and improved, conclusions unchanged)

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• Anisotropic strong lensing as a probe of dark matter self-interactions
• Foreground biases in strong gravitational lensing
• Weak lensing of strong lensing: beyond the tidal regime
• The COSMOS-Web Lens Survey (COWLS) III: forecasts versus data
• The COSMOS-Web Lens Survey (COWLS) II: depth, resolution, and NIR coverage from JWST reveal 17 spectacular lenses
• The revolution in strong lensing discoveries from Euclid