Radio monitoring campaigns of six strongly lensed quasars

We observed six strongly lensed, radio-loud quasars (MG 0414+0534, CLASS B0712+472, JVAS B1030+074, CLASS B1127+385, CLASS B1152+199, and JVAS B1938+666) in order to identify systems suitable for measuring cosmological parameters using time delays between their multiple images. These systems are in standard two- and four-image configurations, with B1938 having a faint secondary pair of images. Two separate monitoring campaigns were carried out using the Very Large Array (VLA) and upgraded VLA. Light curves were extracted for each individual lensed image and analysed for signs of intrinsic variability. While it was not possible to measure time delays from these data, χ²-based and structure function tests found evidence for variability in a majority of the light curves. B0712 and B1030 had particularly strong variations, exhibiting linear flux trends. These results suggest that most of these systems should be targeted with follow-up monitoring campaigns, especially B0712 and B1030. We estimate that we can measure time delays for these systems with precisions of 0.5-3.5 d using two more seasons of monitoring.