Phil Marshall edited Time Delay Distribution.tex  almost 11 years ago

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\subsection{Time Delay Distribution} \subsection{Multiple Imaging by a Foreground Galaxy}  \label{sec:time_delay_dist}  \citet[][hereafter OM10]{OM10} generated a mock catalog of LSST lensed AGN based on plausible models for the source quasars and lens galaxies. This catalog provides a distribution of time delays that will be present in the LSST data and which we can use to guide or generation of mock light curves. Figure \ref{fig:tdel_hist} shows the $\log_{10} \Delta t$ distributions for the OM10 double and quad sample. The distributions are roughly log-normal with means $\sim$10s of days and tails extending below 1 day especially for the quads. It is important to note that, the goal for this time delay challenge is to measure time delays to percent accuracy (i.e., $\sim0.1$ dy) {\bf PJM: we should say this earlier on}.  For a given lens system, the time delays between images can be as short as $\sim$days for close pairs of images to as long as $\sim$100s of days for images on opposite side of the lensing galaxy. The magnitude of these time delays (as well as the other observables) depends on the redshifts of the source $z_{\rm src}$ and the lens galaxy $z_{\rm lens}$, and therefore it is important to understand the expected distribution of those parameters in the LSST data. [REF] (OM10) have generated a catalog of mock quad and double lensed quasars for LSST taking into account lens population parameters, source population parameters, and survey noise and limiting magnitudes, under the assumption that lenses will be detected if the third (second) brightest image for a given quad (double) is above the 5$\sigma$ noise limit. {\bf (GGD: PHIL, is this still correct? Or has the catalog changed?)}  The OM10 catalog can be used to asses the distribution of time delays that will be present in the LSST data and which we can use to guide or generation of mock light curves. Figure \ref{fig:tdel_hist} shows the $\log_{10} \Delta t$ distributions for the OM10 double and quad sample. The distributions are roughly log-normal with means $\sim$10s of days and tails extending below 1 day especially for the quads. It is important to note that, the goal for this time delay challenge is to measure time delays to percent accuracy (i.e., $\sim0.1$ dy).