Magnification maps »

All the GERLUMPH magnification maps can be accessed at the map database. Properties of complete and ongoing GERLUMPH datasets can be seen in the table below. All simulations have been carried out on gSTAR, through the ASTAC scheme supported by the Australian Government.

  GD01 GD12 GD2 GD3*
κ-γ combinations 170 1122 1661 ∼1800
s 1 11 11 11
res. 40962 100002 100002 100002
width (REin) 24 25 25 25
Total 2550 12342 18271 ∼20000
1Vernardos & Fluke 2013
2Vernardos et al. 2014
*in progress

Map + disc convolutions (in progress)

Observable properties of an accretion disc can be extracted by performing a convolution between a disc model and a magnification map. We will use gSTAR to perform 20 million such convolutions between various profiles and all of GERLUMPH maps. Stay tuned!

Software »

This is a collection of several pieces of software that have been used throughout time to create the GERLUMPH resource and its eTools, and to further process magnification maps. These are provided here in order to facilitate access and enable the reproducibility of the results, but can also be used independently. All the following codes are free to download and use:

GPUDDirect ray-shooting code on the GPU
gerlumph++A C++ library for microlensing analysis
CausticfinderAn analytic method to find caustics

Users are kindly asked to make sure to give credit to the correct person/developper each time. Each code is described in the Sofware page.

eTools

The following general, as well as, dataset-specific tools are available:

GERLUMPH Data Tools
map database MPDs P-surface mean MPD
Additional Tools
macromodel colorbar* GIMLET* LSST generator*
*requires WebGL

From video games to distant galaxies

Present and future synoptic all-sky surveys are set to increase the number of known gravitationally lensed quasars from ∼100 to a few thousands, in the next decade. This will improve our understanding of quasar accretion discs and supermassive black holes through the effect of gravitational microlensing. GERLUMPH aims at improving our theoretical understanding and tools of microlensing, by producing thousands of high quality microlensing magnification maps. We are using the GPU-Supercomputer for Theoretical Astrophysics Research (gSTAR) to generate Terabytes of map data. The computer hardware used to generate stunning visuals in computer games is proving to be incredibly valuable to astronomers, providing a link from Games to Galaxies.

GERLUMPH data and tools are described in the corresponding tabs.
If this is the first time you are visiting our website, this beginner's guide may be helpful.

Name:Chris Fluke
Position:Associate Professor,
Swinburne University of Technology
email:cfluke@astro.swin.edu.au
web:http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~cfluke/

My main research interests are in 3D astronomy visualization, computational techniques for gravitational lensing, and the use of graphics processing units (GPUs) to accelerate the rate of astronomical discovery. Currently, I am very interested in the opportunities for using GPU-computing clusters to solve the visualisation and data analysis challenges of the petascale data era. I am very active in public outreach, coordinating the 3D AstroTour school program.


Name:Giorgos Vernardos
Position:PhD student,
Swinburne University of Technology
email:gvernard@astro.swin.edu.au
web:http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~gvernard/

I am mainly interested in theoretical and computational problems in physics and astrophysics. I am working with large scale supercomputer simulations and data management in the TB scale. I have been carrying out the GERLUMPH parameter survey, preparing for the Quasar Gravitational Microlensing survey era. Public outreach plays an important role in communicating ideas in astronomy, I accomplish this by giving public talks, seminars, astrotours and designing web pages.


Name:Dany Vohl
Position:PhD student,
Swinburne University of Technology
email:dvohl@astro.swin.edu.au
web:-

My main research interest is astroinformatics, a (relatively) new multidisciplinary science. In particular, I am interested in topics such as data compression, data visualisation and machine learning in the aim of solving scalability problematics of the Petascale Astronomy Era through GPU-based approaches (i.e. enhancements to browser-based analysis and visualisation tools).


Name:Nick Bate
Position:Postdoc Fellow,
The University of Sydney
email:nbate@physics.usyd.edu.au
web:-

My first great research interest is the use of gravitational microlensing as a tool to understand the structure of quasars on scales well below the resolution limit of current telescopes. My current research is focussed much closer to home, studying substructure in M31 as part of the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey (PAndAS).


Name:Darren Croton
Position:Associate Professor and QEII Fellow,
Swinburne University of Technology
email:dcroton@astro.swin.edu.au
web:http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~dcroton

My research focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies in the local and high redshift Universe. Supermassive black holes, AGN and quasars. Cosmology and the large-scale structure of the Universe.


Melbourne, 24.10.2012

Publications

2019 Vernardos & Tsagkatakis
 Quasar microlensing light-curve analysis using deep machine learning
 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 486, 1944
2019 Vernardos
 Microlensing flux ratio predictions for Euclid
 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 483, 5583
2018 Vernardos
 A joint microlensing analysis of lensing mass and accretion disc models
 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 480, 4675
2015 Vohl, Fluke & Vernardos
 Data compression in the petascale astronomy era: A GERLUMPH case study
 Astronomy & Computing, 12, 200
2015 Vernardos, Fluke, Bate, Croton & Vohl
 GERLUMPH Data Release 2: 2.5 billion simulated microlensing light curves
 The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 217, 23
2014 Vernardos & Fluke
 The effect of macromodel uncertainties on microlensing modelling of lensed quasars
 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 445, 1223
2014 Vernardos & Fluke
 Adventures in the microlensing cloud: large datasets, eResearch tools, and GPUs
 Astronomy & Computing, 6, 1
2014 Vernardos, Fluke, Bate & Croton
 GERLUMPH Data Release 1: High-resolution cosmological microlensing magnification maps and tools
 The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 211, 16
2013 Vernardos & Fluke
 A new parameter space study of cosmological microlensing
 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 434, 832
2012 Bate & Fluke
 A GPU-Enabled, High-Resolution Cosmological Microlensing Parameter Survey
 The Astrophysical Journal, 744, 90
2010 Bate, Fluke, Barsdell, Garsden & Lewis
 Computational advances in gravitational microlensing: A comparison of CPU, GPU, and parallel, large data codes
 New Astronomy, 15, 726
2010 Thompson, Fluke, Barnes & Barsdell
 Teraflop per second gravitational lensing ray-shooting using graphics processing units
 New Astronomy, 15, 16

Contact details

You are welcome to send any suggestions or questions to the GERLUMPH team:

GERLUMPH 09-12-2024 (UTC+10:00)


Maps in database :76966
GPU time :28442days
Approx. data size :29.3Terabytes