Letters of Intent received in 2021

LoI 2023-2142
Strong gravitational lensing in the era of Big Data

Topics

1) Large-scale surveys of gravitational lenses and analysing Big Data: theoretical, numerical and computational innovation; theoretical predictions

2) Resolving the high-redshift Universe through gravitational lenses: galaxy structure; multi-wavelength synergies; observational frontiers and modelling techniques

3) Galaxy formation and the nature of dark matter: detecting the lensing signature of low-mass haloes; dark and baryonic matter in galaxies and clusters; simulations, theoretical frameworks and observational synergies

4) Tests of cosmology and fundamental physics with gravitational lensing

Rationale

We have reached a critical time for strong gravitational lensing research as forthcoming large-scale surveys (Euclid and the Vera Rubin Observatory) will map the entire sky and increase the number of known gravitational lenses from hundreds to tens of thousands. At the same time, imaging of strong gravitational lenses with current and forthcoming instruments (e.g. ALMA, JWST, E-ELT, SKA-VLBI) will spatially resolve scales beyond the reach of telescopes for individual objects in the high-redshift Universe. These new data will revolutionise our understanding of dark matter, galaxy formation and evolution.

The proposed symposium date of July 2023 is auspicious as it precedes the expected first data release from flagship survey facilities. The last major conference of the strong gravitational lensing community was in 2016, seven years before the proposed date. Since then, many new astronomers have entered the field, started groups and introduced fresh and innovative ideas. State-of-the-art techniques have been developed to resolve structures in the early Universe (e.g. Rizzo et al. 2020, Nature), test the nature of dark matter (e.g. Meneghetti et al. 2020, Science), test fundamental physics (e.g. Collett et al. 2018, Science) and efficiently analyse Big Data (e.g. Hezaveh et al. 2017, Nature), demonstrating that the strong lensing community is well-placed to address key scientific questions in astrophysics.

This strong gravitational lensing symposium will bring together observational and theoretical members of the community to review the progress of the field and outlook for the future. The goals of the symposium are

1) To understand the preparedness of the community to upscale analyses for incoming Big Data

2) To assess the progress and limitations of precision lens modelling; to understand what developments are needed

3) To find synergies between observations and simulations of dark matter and the high-redshift Universe

4) To determine the scientific questions that the strong lensing community is posed to answer over the next decade and foster collaboration