TY - JOUR TI - Uncertainties in pixel-based source reconstruction for gravitationally lensed objects and applications to lensed galaxies DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3D50PJ0 PY - 2014 AB - Gravitational lens modeling of spatially resolved sources is a challenging inverse problem that can involve many observational constraints and model parameters. I present a new software package, pixsrc, that works in conjunction with the lensmodel software and builds on established pixel-based source reconstruction (PBSR) algorithms for de-lensing a source and constraining lens model parameters. Using test data, I explore statistical and systematic uncertainties associated with gridding, source regularization, interpolation errors, noise, and telescope pointing. I compare two gridding schemes in the source plane: a fully adaptive grid and an adaptive Cartesian grid. I also consider regularization schemes that minimize derivatives of the source and introduce a scheme that minimizes deviations from an analytic source profile. Careful choice of gridding and regularization can reduce "discreteness noise" in the chi^2 surface that is inherent in the pixel-based methodology. With a gridded source, errors due to interpolation need to be taken into account (especially for high S/N data). Different realizations of noise and telescope pointing lead to slightly different values for lens model parameters, and the scatter between different "observations" can be comparable to or larger than the model uncertainties themselves. The same effects create scatter in the lensing magnification at the level of a few percent for a peak S/N of 10. I then apply pixsrc to observations of lensed, high-redshift galaxies. SDSS J0901+1814, is an ultraluminous infrared galaxy at z=2.26 that is also UV-bright, and it is lensed by a foreground group of galaxies at z=0.35. I constrain the lens model using maps of CO(3-2) rotational line emission and optical imaging and apply the lens model to observations of CO(1-0), H-alpha, and [NII] line emission as well. Using the de-lensed images, I calculate properties of the source, such as the gas mass fraction and dynamical mass. Finally, I examine a serendipitously discovered pair of gravitationally lensed objects with strikingly different colors. One appears red and compact, while the other appears blue and extended. I use pixsrc to constrain the lens model using observations of the red object and present a PBSR as a first step towards understanding its properties. KW - Physics and Astronomy KW - Gravitational lenses LA - eng ER -