Related papers: Gravitational lensing time delays as a tool for te…
I discuss some theoretical ideas concerning the representation of quantum gravity as a Lorentz-symmetry-violating `medium' with non-trivial optical properties, which include a refractive index in `vacuo' and stochastic effects associated…
According to Einstein's special relativity theory, the speed of light in a vacuum is constant for all observers. However, quantum gravity effects could introduce its dispersion depending on the energy of photons. The investigation of the…
We investigate the potential of high-energy astrophysical events, from which both massless and massive signals are detected, to probe fundamental physics. In particular, we consider how strong gravitational lensing can induce time delays in…
Time delays in gravitational lenses can be used to determine the Hubble constant and the lens potential. In future surveys, many gravitational lenses can be discovered, and their time delays and image positions can in principle be measured.…
(ABRIDGED) The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) will measure the spectra of distant extragalactic sources of high energy gamma-rays. GLAST can look for energy dependent propagation effects from such sources as a signal of…
Time delays between lensed multiple images have been known to provide an interesting probe of the Hubble constant, but such application is often limited by degeneracies with the shape of lens potentials. We propose a new statistical…
There are now 10 firm time delay measurements in gravitational lenses. The physics of time delays is well understood, and the only important variable for interpreting the time delays to determine H_0 is the mean surface mass density <k> (in…
One of the experimental tests of Lorentz invariance violation is to measure the helicity dependence of the propagation velocity of photons originating in distant cosmological obejcts. Using a recent determination of the distance of the…
Experimental verification of the existence of gravimagnetic fields generated by currents of matter is important for a complete understanding and formulation of gravitational physics. Although the rotational `intrinsic' gravimagnetic field…
Aims. This article shows the first evidence for gravitational lensing phenomena in high energy gamma-rays. This evidence comes from the observation of a gravitational lens induced echo in the light curve of the distant blazar PKS 1830-211.…
Observations of high energy neutrinos, both in the laboratory and from cosmic sources, can be a useful probe in searching for new physics. Such observations can provide sensitive tests of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV), which may be a…
The Lorentz covariant theory of propagation of light in the (weak) gravitational fields of N-body systems consisting of arbitrarily moving point-like bodies with constant masses is constructed. The theory is based on the Lienard-Wiechert…
We consider the nonunitary quantum dynamics of neutral massless scalar particles used to model photons around a massive gravitational lens. The gravitational interaction between the lensing mass and asymptotically free particles is…
In these lectures I give an overview of gravitational lensing, concentrating on theoretical aspects, including derivations of some of the important results. Topics covered include the determination of surface mass densities of intervening…
The Hubble constant value is currently known to 10% accuracy unless assumptions are made for the cosmology (Sandage et al. 2006). Gravitational lens systems provide another probe of the Hubble constant using time delay measurements.…
It is known that a relative translational motion between the deflector and the observer affects gravitational lensing. In this paper, a lens equation is obtained to describe such effects on actual lensing observables. Results can be easily…
In a gravitational lensing system, the relative transverse velocities of the lens, source, and observer induce a frequency shift in the observed radiation. While this shift is typically negligible in most astrophysical contexts, strategies…
Gravitational waves (GWs) are direct probes of cosmological gravity, sensitive to space-time inhomogeneities along their propagation. The presence of massive objects breaks homogeneity and isotropy, allowing for new interactions between…
The spectral lags of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been viewed as the most promising probes of the possible violations of Lorentz invariance (LIV). However, these constraints usually depend on the assumption of the unknown intrinsic time lag…
Experimental observations indicate that gamma-ray bursts (GRB) and high-energy neutrino bursts may travel at different speeds with a typical delay measured at the order of hours or days. We discuss two potential interpretations for the GRB…