Tracing small-scale structure formation through cosmic time with strong gravitational lensing: A case for a next-generation sub-millimetre/millimetre interferometer
Abstract
The nature of dark matter and the growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) remain major open questions in modern astrophysics. Both leave a key signature in an overlapping, largely unexplored mass range: <107 M⊙ dark haloes and wandering black holes. These may be undetectable directly, but detectable through gravitational perturbation of strongly lensed images, and partly or entirely distinguishable from one another through lensing data alone. We demonstrate through realistic simulations that a 255-element sub-mm/mm interferometer could probe this critical mass regime, detecting gravitational perturbations in strongly lensed dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) from objects down to at least 105 M⊙. Combined with lens-galaxy characterisation from the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which strengthens the physical interpretation of detected perturbers, and the unprecedented lens samples expected from Euclid and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), this facility could deliver a census of low-mass dark matter haloes and wandering massive black holes across cosmic time.
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BibTeX
@misc{stacey2026tracing,
title = {{Tracing small-scale structure formation through cosmic time with strong gravitational lensing: A case for a next-generation sub-millimetre/millimetre interferometer}},
author = {Hannah R. Stacey and John P. McKean and Mamta Pandey-Pommier and Carla Cornil-Baïotto and Simona Vegetti and Aristeidis Amvrosiadis and Françoise Combes and Giulia Despali and Andreas L. Faisst and Giovanni Ferrami and Davide Massari and Dieu D. Nguyen and James W. Nightingale and Antti Rantala and Cristiana Spingola},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.20710},
eprint = {2610.20710},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20710},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Tracing small-scale structure formation through cosmic time with strong gravitational lensing: A case for a next-generation sub-millimetre/millimetre interferometer
AU - Hannah R. Stacey
AU - John P. McKean
AU - Mamta Pandey-Pommier
AU - Carla Cornil-Baïotto
AU - Simona Vegetti
AU - Aristeidis Amvrosiadis
AU - Françoise Combes
AU - Giulia Despali
AU - Andreas L. Faisst
AU - Giovanni Ferrami
AU - Davide Massari
AU - Dieu D. Nguyen
AU - James W. Nightingale
AU - Antti Rantala
AU - Cristiana Spingola
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.20710
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20710
AB - The nature of dark matter and the growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) remain major open questions in modern astrophysics. Both leave a key signature in an overlapping, largely unexplored mass range: <10^7 M_⊙ dark haloes and wandering black holes. These may be undetectable directly, but detectable through gravitational perturbation of strongly lensed images, and partly or entirely distinguishable from one another through lensing data alone. We demonstrate through realistic simulations that a 255-element sub-mm/mm interferometer could probe this critical mass regime, detecting gravitational perturbations in strongly lensed dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) from objects down to at least 10^5 M_⊙. Combined with lens-galaxy characterisation from the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which strengthens the physical interpretation of detected perturbers, and the unprecedented lens samples expected from Euclid and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), this facility could deliver a census of low-mass dark matter haloes and wandering massive black holes across cosmic time.
ER -