Research topics
- AGN structure via microlensing: Study of the accretion disc, broad-line region, intrinsic absorbers in AGNs using gravitational microlensing.
Main Collaborators: D. Hutsemékers, L. Braibant (Uni. Liège), M. Kishimoto (MPIfR), T. Anguita (Pontifica Universidad de Chile), R. Schmidt, J. Wambsganss (ARI, Uni. Heidelberg), A. Yonehara (Kyoto Sangyo Uni.), F. Courbin, M. Tewes, G. Meylan (EPFL)
- Dark Matter substructures: Search for massive substructures in galaxies using astrometric and photometric anomalies in strongly lensed quasars.
Main Collaborators: O. Wucknitz (MPIfR), Dandan Xu (Uni. Bonn), P. Magain, V. Chantry (Uni. Liège), F. Courbin, G. Meylan (EPFL), N. Jackson (Uni. Manchester), D. Leier (Uni. Bologna)
- Strong lensing: Characterisation of the properties of strongly lensed systems.
Main Collaborators: F. Courbin, M. Tewes, Y. Revaz, G. Meylan (EPFL), E. Rusu (Uni. Tokyo), G. Djorgovski (Caltech), J. Surdej, P. Magain, V. Chantry (Uni. Liège)
- Cosmology: Study of cosmological parameters via time-delay measurement of strongly lensed quasars (with COSMOGRAIL and the cosmology task force).
Main collaborators: F. Courbin, G. Meylan, M. Tewes (EPFL), S. Suyu, T. Treu (Uni. Santa Barbara)
- Polarisation in quasars: Photometric and spectropolarimetric study of the linear (and circular) optical polarisation in quasars. Characterisation of the large-scale alignement properties of quasars' linear polarisation vector.
Main Collaborators: D. Hutsemékers, A. Payez, J.R. Cudell (Uni. Liège), R. Cabanac (Uni. Toulouse), H. Lamy (Institut d'aéronomie Spatiale, Brussels)