Evidence for dark matter contraction and a salpeter initial mass function in a massive early-type galaxy

Abstract

Stars and dark matter account for most of the mass of early-type galaxies, but uncertainties in the stellar population and the dark matter profile make it challenging to distinguish between the two components. Nevertheless, precise observations of stellar and dark matter are extremely valuable for testing the many models of structure formation and evolution. We present a measurement of the stellar mass and inner slope of the dark matter halo of a massive early-type galaxy at z = 0.222. The galaxy is the foreground deflector of the double Einstein ring gravitational lens system SDSSJ0946+1006, also known as the "Jackpot." By combining the tools of lensing and dynamics we first constrain the mean slope of the total mass density profile () within the radius of the outer ring to be γ′ = 1.98 ± 0.02 ± 0.01. Then we obtain a bulge-halo decomposition, assuming a power-law form for the dark matter halo. Our analysis yields γDM = 1.7 ± 0.2 for the inner slope of the dark matter profile, in agreement with theoretical findings on the distribution of dark matter in ellipticals, and a stellar mass from lensing and dynamics M LD* = 5.5-1.3+0.4 × 1011 M. By comparing this measurement with stellar masses inferred from stellar population synthesis fitting we find that a Salpeter initial mass function (IMF) provides a good description of the stellar population of the lens while the probability of the IMF being heavier than Chabrier is 95%. Our data suggest that growth by accretion of small systems from a compact red nugget is a plausible formation scenario for this object. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..