Abstract:
What is the value of the Hubble constant? How does Dark Matter clump on small scales? Multiply imaged and gravitationally lensed QSOs are central objects to help answer these questions and serve as fundamental tools with far-reaching implications across a broad spectrum of astrophysical domains. However, these objects are rare and elusive, with barely a few hundred currently known. The GraL group was created to tackle this issue, discovering and characterizing new lensed QSOs profiting from the ESA/Gaia's satellite's exceptional angular resolution and all-sky coverage.
In this talk, I will first briefly overview the major motivations behind our search for lensed QSOs. Then, I will comment on some machine learning heuristics we created to keep humans in the decision loop and to profit from Gaia’s unparalleled astrometry and its synergies with ground and space-based surveys and follow-up observations. Afterward, I will discuss our adoption of currently available Quantum Annealers as DWAVE Advantage and prospects for classical supercomputers as the University of California’s SDSC Expanse. Finally, I will show some recently discovered and confirmed lenses thanks to Gaia’s DR3 and the Focused Product Release and discuss exciting prospects for upcoming Data Releases and beyond.
Speaker: Alberto Krone-Martins, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine