Gravitational lensing and elliptical galaxies

Abstract

If the statistics of quasar lensing are to be used to constrain the cosmological model, the various potential systematic uncertainties in the deflector population must be accounted for. One ambiguity in the lensing properties of the dominant deflectors - elliptical galaxies - is their dynamical normalisation. Assuming they can be modelled as isothermal spheres, it is shown that their mass normalisation is sufficiently high that current upper limits on the cosmological constant remain valid, and in fact probably strengthened, even if ellipticals have significant core radii.