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Seminars
IIHE Invited seminar: The Dark Side of the Universe Seen Through (Strong) Gravitational Lenses
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Europe/Brussels
G/1-G.1.03 - J. Sacton (Building G)
G/1-G.1.03 - J. Sacton
Building G
45
Description
Abstract:
Gravitational lensing has become a powerful tool for studying both the dark and visible components of the Universe. In particular, this effect allows us to detect dark matter, study dark energy, and test alternatives to general relativity. In this talk I will briefly review the phenomenology of strong gravitational lensing, which produces large magnifications, multiple images and distortions of astronomical objects, ranging from the microlensing of stars to giant arcs and Einstein rings from the lensing of galaxies. The coming era of wide-field time-domain surveys, in particular, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), will open a new window on lensing, with discoveries of strongly lensed transients and variable objects (such as quasars, supernovae, and potentially counterparts of gravitational-wave events), as well as large samples of microlensing events. I will discuss the LaStBeRu (Last Stand Before Rubin) compilation of strong-lens candidates from current wide-field surveys, developed as a precursor to Rubin, and present new results on constraints on modified gravity from strong lensing. I will also discuss microlensing follow-up observations at the CASLEO observatory in Argentina, a pilot project using a skipper CCD camera at this observatory and future plans for this technology. These developments illustrate how new surveys, data-analysis methods, and detector technologies are coming together to explore the dark side of the Universe through gravitational lensing.
Short Bio:
Martín Makler is a researcher at CBPF (Brazil) and UNSAM (Argentina), working in observational cosmology and astrophysics, with a focus on dark matter, dark energy, and modified gravity. His research uses gravitational lensing—including weak lensing, strong lensing, and microlensing—to probe the dark components of the Universe, combining data analysis, simulations, and modeling. He proposed a class of models unifying dark matter and dark energy and later contributed to their observational exclusion. He promoted Brazil’s participation in the Dark Energy Survey (DES), where he was a Builder and co-led the Strong Lensing Working Group, and led Brazilian participation in the CFHT Stripe 82 Survey. He is a member of the Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), where he participates in the Transients and Variable Stars and Strong Lensing Science Collaborations, co-leading the microlensing subgroup. His interests also include CCD technologies for astrophysics and particle detection, as well as science communication and public outreach.