[en] Strong gravitational lenses with measured time delays between the multiple images allow a direct measurement of the time-delay distance to the lens, and thus a measure of cosmological parameters, particularly the Hubble constant, H[SUB]0[/SUB]. We present a blind lens model analysis of the quadruply imaged quasar lens HE 0435-1223 using deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging, updated time-delay measurements from the COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses (COSMOGRAIL), a measurement of the velocity dispersion of the lens galaxy based on Keck data, and a characterization of the mass distribution along the line of sight. HE 0435-1223 is the third lens analysed as a part of the H[SUB]0[/SUB] Lenses in COSMOGRAIL's Wellspring (H0LiCOW) project. We account for various sources of systematic uncertainty, including the detailed treatment of nearby perturbers, the parametrization of the galaxy light and mass profile, and the regions used for lens modelling. We constrain the effective time-delay distance to be D_{Δ t}= 2612_{-191}^{+208} Mpc, a precision of 7.6 per cent. From HE 0435-1223 alone, we infer a Hubble constant of H[SUB]0[/SUB] = 73.1_{-6.0}^{+5.7} km s^{-1 Mpc^{-1}} assuming a flat ΛCDM cosmology. The cosmographic inference based on the three lenses analysed by H0LiCOW to date is presented in a companion paper (H0LiCOW Paper V).
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Wong, Kenneth C.; National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan ; Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (ASIAA), PO Box 23-141, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Suyu, Sherry H.; Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany ; Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (ASIAA), PO Box 23-141, Taipei 10617, Taiwan ; Physik-Department, Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Straße 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
Auger, Matthew W.; Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Rd, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
Bonvin, Vivien; Laboratoire d'Astrophysique, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire de Sauverny, CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland
Courbin, Frederic; Laboratoire d'Astrophysique, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire de Sauverny, CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland
Fassnacht, Christopher D.; Department of Physics, University of California Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Halkola, Aleksi; Department of Physics, University of California Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Rusu, Cristian E.; STAR Institute, Quartier Agora - Allée du six Août, 19c B-4000 Liège, Belgium
Sluse, Dominique ; Université de Liège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO)
Sonnenfeld, Alessandro; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547, USA
Treu, Tommaso; Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Rd, Portsmouth PO1 3FX, UK
