La Jornada: They analyze advances in the study of gravitational lenses

Santander. This week Santander hosted the international conference JWST Through Cluster Lenses, which brought together 71 researchers and professionals from different countries to analyze recent advances in the study of gravitational lenses based on space telescope observations. James Webb (JWST).

Its main objective was to bring together the scientific community that works on the study of gravitational lenses, especially those produced by galaxy clusters, reported the University of Cantabria (UC).

Gravitational lensing is a phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity in which the gravity of a massive object, such as a galaxy cluster, bends space-time and bends light from objects behind it. This effect can act as a true “cosmic magnifying glass”, allowing us to observe extremely distant and faint galaxies that, without this phenomenon, would be much more difficult to detect.

Furthermore, its study offers a tool to investigate the distribution of baryonic and dark matter in the universe, and to determine cosmological parameters, study the evolution of the universe and better understand the properties of the galaxy clusters themselves.

A representative from the United States, NASA personnel, and four Spanish researchers, among others, participated in the event.

It has been organized by researchers from the Cantabria Institute of Physics José María Diego, Ana Acebron and José María Palencia, in collaboration with the University of Toronto and the Santander city council.

He JWST It is the most powerful and advanced space observatory. Its observation capabilities, especially in the infrared range, allow us to study extremely distant objects and observe the universe at very early stages of its history.

“It has allowed us to access objects and phenomena that until now were difficult or impossible to study. In combination with the effect of gravitational lenses, its capabilities allow us to expand this frontier even further,” commented Ana Acebron.

During the meeting, the participants present the results obtained with the JWST and analyze the different scientific applications offered by gravitational lensing at the scale of galaxy clusters. Among them, the reconstruction of mass distribution, the study of dark matter, the investigation of extremely distant galaxies and the analysis of the formation and evolution of the structures of the universe.

Part of the conference activity is linked to the Venus collaboration, which brings together researchers working on taking advantage of observations of galaxy clusters and their gravitational lenses to address questions related to the structure and evolution of the universe. The collaboration complements the results obtained with the JWST and allows progress in the joint analysis of these systems.