Abstract
Abstract The dominant uncertainty in the current measurement of the Hubble constant (H 0) with strong gravitational lensing time delays is attributed to uncertainties in the mass profiles of the main deflector galaxies. Strongly lensed supernovae (glSNe) can provide, in addition to measurable time delays, lensing magnification constraints when knowledge about the unlensed apparent brightness of the explosion is imposed. We present a hierarchical Bayesian framework to combine a data set of SNe that are not strongly lensed and a data set of strongly lensed SNe with measured time delays. We jointly constrain (i) H 0 using the time delays as an absolute distance indicator, (ii) the lens model profiles using the magnification ratio of lensed and unlensed fluxes on the population level, and (iii) the unlensed apparent magnitude distribution of the SN population and the redshift–luminosity relation of the relative expansion history of the universe. We apply our joint inference framework on a future expected data set of glSNe and forecast that a sample of 144 glSNe of Type Ia with well-measured time series and imaging data will measure H 0 to 1.5%. We discuss strategies to mitigate systematics associated with using absolute flux measurements of glSNe to constrain the mass density profiles. Using the magnification of SN images is a promising and complementary alternative to using stellar kinematics. Future surveys, such as the Rubin and Roman observatories, will be able to discover the necessary number of glSNe, and with additional follow-up observations, this methodology will provide precise constraints on mass profiles and H 0.
Highlights
The current expansion rate of the Universe, the Hubble Constant H0, anchors the scale and the age of the Universe
There is an ongoing debate about the precise value of H0, where some local distance ladder measurements based on calibration using Cepheids (e.g., Riess et al 2021) are in significant statistical disagreement with measurements extrapolated from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) (e.g., Planck Collaboration et al 2020; Aiola et al 2020)
We discussed the theoretical aspects that allow absolute lensing magnifications to constrain a key property of the lensing mass profile that is insufficiently constraint with lensing-only data due to the mass-sheet degeneracy
Summary
The current expansion rate of the Universe, the Hubble Constant H0, anchors the scale and the age of the Universe. There is an ongoing debate about the precise value of H0, where some local distance ladder measurements based on calibration using Cepheids (e.g., Riess et al 2021) are in significant statistical disagreement with measurements extrapolated from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) (e.g., Planck Collaboration et al 2020; Aiola et al 2020) Another distance ladder analysis based on calibration using the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) stars results in a consistent measurement with the CMB (Freedman et al 2020; Freedman 2021). Relative time delays between multiple gravitationally lensed images provide a one-step distance anchor of the Universe, and H0 This probe is independent of the local distance ladder and the sound-horizon-physics anchors of the CMB and large-scale structure probes. The discovery of numerous lensed quasar systems, follow-up monitoring, high-resolution imaging and precise spectroscopic observations have lead to a precise measurement of H0 using seven multiply lensed quasars
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