A Robust Determination of the Size of Quasar Accretion Disks Using Gravitational Microlensing

Jiménez-Vicente, J.; Mediavilla, E.; Muñoz, J. A.; Kochanek, C. S.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 751, Issue 2, article id. 106 (2012).

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6
2012
Number of authors
4
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
59
Refereed citations
56
Description
Using microlensing measurements for a sample of 27 image pairs of 19 lensed quasars we determine a maximum likelihood estimate for the accretion disk size of an average quasar of rs = 4.0+2.4 - 3.1 lt-day at rest frame langλrang = 1736 Å for microlenses with a mean mass of langMrang = 0.3 M &sun;. This value, in good agreement with previous results from smaller samples, is roughly a factor of five greater than the predictions of the standard thin disk model. The individual size estimates for the 19 quasars in our sample are also in excellent agreement with the results of the joint maximum likelihood analysis.
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Relativistic and Theoretical Astrophysics
Introduction Gravitational lenses are a powerful tool for Astrophysics and Cosmology. The goals of this project are: i) to obtain a robust determination of the Hubble constant from the time delay measured between the images of a lensed quasar; ii) to study the individual and statistical properties of dark matter condensations in lens galaxies from
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