Constraints on Galaxy Density Profiles from Strong Gravitational Lensing: The Case of B1933+503

Abstract

We consider a wide range of parametric mass models for B1933+503, a 10-image radio lens, and identify shared properties of the models with the best fits. The approximate rotation curves vary by less than 8.5% from the average value between the innermost and the outermost image (1.5-4.1 h-1 kpc) for models within 1 σ of the best fit, and the radial dependence of the shear strength and angle also have common behavior for the best models. The time delay between images 1 and 6, the longest delay between the radio cores, is Δt = 10.6 h-1 days (Ω0 = 0.3, λ0 = 0.7), including all the modeling uncertainties. Deeper infrared observations, to more precisely register the lens galaxy with the radio images and to measure the properties of the Einstein ring image of the radio source's host galaxy, would significantly improve the model constraints and further reduce the uncertainties in the mass distribution and time delay.