Microlensing flux ratio predictions for Euclid

Georgios Vernardos

Published 2018-12-18Version 1

Quasar microlensing flux ratios are used to unveil properties of the lenses in large collections of lensed quasars, like the ones expected to be produced by the Euclid survey. This is achieved by using the direct survey products, without any (expensive) follow-up observations or monitoring. First, the theoretical flux ratio distribution of samples of hundreds of mock quasar lenses is calculated for different Initial Mass Functions (IMFs) and Sersic radial profiles for the lens compact matter distribution. Then, mock observations are created and compared to the models to recover the underlying one. The most important factor for determining the flux ratio properties of such samples is the value of the smooth matter fraction at the location of the multiple images. Doubly lensed CASTLES-like quasars are the most promising systems to constrain the IMF and the mass components for a sample of lenses.