Multi-messenger Gravitational Lensing
Abstract
We introduce the rapidly emerging field of multi-messenger gravitational lensing - the discovery and science of gravitationally lensed phenomena in the distant universe through the combination of multiple messengers. This is framed by gravitational lensing phenomenology that has grown since the first discoveries in the 20th century, messengers that span 30 orders of magnitude in energy from high energy neutrinos to gravitational waves, and powerful "survey facilities" that are capable of continually scanning the sky for transient and variable sources. Within this context, the main focus is on discoveries and science that are feasible in the next 5-10 years with current and imminent technology including the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA network of gravitational wave detectors, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and contemporaneous gamma/X-ray satellites and radio surveys. The scientific impact of even one multi-messenger gravitational lensing discovery will be transformational and reach across fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. We describe these scientific opportunities and the key challenges along the path to achieving them. This article is the introduction to the Theme Issue of the Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A on the topic of Multi-messenger Gravitational Lensing, and describes the consensus that emerged at the associated Theo Murphy Discussion Meeting in March 2024.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2503.19973,
title = {Multi-messenger Gravitational Lensing},
author = {Graham P. Smith and Tessa Baker and Simon Birrer and Christine E. Collins and Jose María Ezquiaga and Srashti Goyal and Otto A. Hannuksela and Phurailatpam Hemantakumar and Martin A. Hendry and Justin Janquart and David Keitel and Andrew J. Levan and Rico K. L. Lo and Anupreeta More and Matt Nicholl and Inés Pastor-Marazuela and Andrés I. Ponte Pérez and Helena Ubach and Laura E. Uronen and Mick Wright and Miguel Zumalacarregui and Federica Bianco and Mesut Çalışkan and Juno C. L. Chan and Elena Colangeli and Benjamin P. Gompertz and Christopher P. Haines and Erin E. Hayes and Bin Hu and Gavin P. Lamb and Anna Liu and Soheb Mandhai and Harsh Narola and Quynh Lan Nguyen and Jason S. C. Poon and Dan Ryczanowski and Eungwang Seo and Anowar J. Shajib and Xikai Shan and Nial Tanvir and Luka Vujeva},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.19973},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A. Theo Murphy Theme Issue, "Multi-messenger Gravitational Lensing". 63 pages, 10 figures, 1 table