Comparison of Strong Gravitational Lens Model Software II. HydraLens: Computer-Assisted Strong Gravitational Lens Model Generation and Translation

摘要

The behavior of strong gravitational lens model software in the analysis oflens models is not necessarily consistent among the various software available,suggesting that the use of several models may enhance the understanding of thesystem being studied. Among the publicly available codes, the model input filesare heterogeneous, making the creation of multiple models tedious. An enhancedmethod of creating model files and a method to easily create multiple models,may increase the number of comparison studies. HydraLens simplifies thecreation of model files for four strong gravitational lens model softwarepackages, including Lenstool, Gravlens/Lensmodel, glafic and PixeLens, using acustom designed GUI for each of the four codes that simplifies the entry of themodel for each of these codes, obviating the need for user manuals to set thevalues of the many flags and in each data field. HydraLens is designed in amodular fashion, which simplifies the addition of other strong gravitationallens codes in the future. HydraLens can also translate a model generated forany of these four software packages into any of the other three. Models createdusing HydraLens may require slight modifications, since some information may belost in the translation process. However the computer generated model greatlysimplifies the process of developing multiple lens models. HydraLens mayenhance the number of direct software comparison studies, and also assist inthe education of young investigators in gravitational lens modeling. Futuredevelopment of HydraLens will further enhance its capabilities.