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Of all planet-finding techniques, microlensing is potentially the most sensitive to Earth-mass planets. However, microlensing lightcurves generically yield only the planet-star mass ratio: the mass itself is uncertain to a factor of a few.…
We consider the possibility that future wide-field time-domain optical imaging surveys may be able to discover gravitationally lensed quasar pairs through serendipitous measurements of their time delays. We discuss the merits such a…
Tests of general relativity (GR) can be systematically biased when our waveform models are inaccurate. We here study systematic biases in tests of general relativity induced by neglecting lensing effects for millilensed gravitational-wave…
Following previous suggestions of other researchers, this paper discusses the prospects for astrometric observation of MACHO gravitational microlensing events. We derive the expected astrometric observables for a simple microlensing event…
The general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect can be detected by means of a suitable combination of orbital residuals of the laser-ranged LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites. While this observable is not affected by the orbital perturbation…
We propose a new procedure for measuring the spin of a black hole with an unprecedented accuracy based on the gravitational lensing of millisecond pulsars. We derive the basic equations for lensing by a rotating black hole. We show that the…
We review the results from {\it Mariner 10} regarding Mercury's gravity field and the results from radar ranging regarding topography. We discuss the implications of improving these results, including a determination of the polar component,…
Weak gravitational lensing has the potential to constrain cosmological parameters to high precision. However, as shown by the Shear TEsting Programmes (STEP) and GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing (GREAT) Challenges, measuring galaxy…
We investigate lens orbital motion in astrometric microlensing and its detectability. In microlensing events, the light centroid shift in the source trajectory (the astrometric trajectory) falls off much more slowly than the light…
In this paper we investigate the possibility of measuring the post-Newtonian general relativistic gravitomagnetic Lense-Thirring effect in the Jovian system of its Galilean satellites Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto in view of recent…
In this paper, we investigate two topics related to mitigating the effect of radar bias in ballistic missile tracking applications. We determine the absolute bias between two radars in polar coordinates when their relative bias is given in…
Radio pulsars in short-period eccentric binary orbits can be used to study both gravitational dynamics and binary evolution. The binary system containing PSR J1141$-$6545 includes a massive white dwarf (WD) companion that formed before the…
In this paper we present the theoretical basis for the modeling of weakly gravitationally lensed extended sources that are polarized. This technique has been used in the past to constrain the mass profiles of galaxies projected against the…
We reexamine non-Einsteinian effects observable in the orbital motion of low-orbit artificial Earth satellites. The motivations for doing so are twofold: (i) recent theoretical studies suggest that the correct theory of gravity might…
The possibility of using optical communications in free-space as an improvement of current RF communication systems was analyzed in this Project. The particular case of a link Mars-Earth was studied and a link based in the future NASA's…
We focus on the possibility of measuring the gravitomagnetic effects due to the rotation of the Earth, by means of a space-based experiment that exploits satellites in geostationary orbits. Due to the rotation of the Earth, there is an…
Magnetars are highly magnetized neutron stars. For a slowly rotating magnetar, the strong magnetic field deforms the star, making it axisymmetric with respect to the magnetic axis (the body symmetry axis). In magnetars, the rotation axis is…
We present the scientific case to build a multiple-wavelength, active, near-infrared (NIR) instrument to measure the reflected intensity and polarization characteristics of backscattered radiation from planetary surfaces and atmospheres. We…
The rotation and orientation of Mars is commonly described using two different sets of angles, namely the Euler angles wrt the Mars orbit plane and the right ascension, declination, and prime meridian location angles wrt the Earth equator…
(abridged) Gravitationally lensed quasars can be used as powerful cosmological and astrophysical probes. We can (i) infer the Hubble constant based on the time-delay technique, (ii) unveil substructures along the l.o.s. toward distant…