Constraints on the mass profile of the lens galaxy G2237+0305

Abstract

Published parametric models of the Einstein Cross gravitational lens demonstrate that the image geometry can be reproduced by families of models. In particular, the slope of the mass profile for the lens galaxy is unconstrained. However, recent models predict a dependence of image flux ratios on the slope of the mass profile. We use this dependence to constrain the mass profile by calculating the likelihood of the slope using published mid-infrared flux ratios (including microlensing variability). We find that the galaxy is likely to be flatter than isothermal, and therefore that the mass-to-light ratio is decreasing in the inner kiloparsec.