The discovery of the first giant arcs is described in this classic paper; it marks the beginning of the study of cluster strong lenses as cosmic telescopes. (A)
This study of dark matter substructure in a cluster of galaxies, using both strong and weak lensing, covered an unprecedently wide dynamic range of cluster mass density and infalling group environments, and provided comparison with simulations regarding the cluster dark matter density profile. (A)
A recent treatment of the substructure problem from a theoretical point of view. The authors compare predictions from numerical simulations with observations of strong lens flux-ratio anomalies and find that strong lenses may even indicate an excess of massive satellites. (A)
In this very influential paper, the authors used a small sample of gravitational lenses observed in the radio to infer limits on the presence of dark substructure. (A)
A concise paper that combines strong and weak lensing constraints with stellar kinematics to show that the initial mass function of massive (lens) galaxies is not consistent with light ones such as those advocated for spiral galaxies. (A)
A recent description of the rationale for studying spiral galaxies with strong
gravitational lensing and the challenges associated with finding large samples of them. (A)
A good example of astronomers attempting to combine information from several sources to constrain a self-consistent model of a cluster gravitational potential. (A)
A recent and up-to-date paper on the distribution of stellar and dark matter in early-type galaxies using strong lensing, stellar kinematics, and other astrophysical tools. (A)
A clear illustration of the power of combining gravitational lensing with other diagnostics (in this case stellar kinematics) for the study of stars and dark matter in galaxies and their evolution over cosmic time. (A)