Related papers: Optical Metrics and Projective Equivalence
We interpret the well known fact that the equations for light rays in the Kottler or Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric are independent of the cosmological constant in terms of the projective equivalence of the optical metric for any value of…
We consider axially symmetric static metrics in arbitrary dimension, both with and without a cosmological constant. The most obvious such solutions have an SO(n) group of Killing vectors representing the axial symmetry, although one can…
Two pseudo-Riemannian metrics are called projectively equivalent if their unparametrized geodesics coincide. The degree of mobility of a metric is the dimension of the space of metrics that are projectively equivalent to it. We give a…
We consider the projection of null geodesics of the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini metric in n+1 dimensions to the space of orbits of the static Killing vector where the motion of a given light ray is seen to lie in a plane. The projected curves…
The geodesic motion in a Lorentzian spacetime can be described by trajectories in a $3-$dimensional Riemannian metric. In this article we present a generalized Jacobi metric obtained from projecting a Lorentzian metric over the directions…
The C-metric is a solution to Einstein's vacuum field equation that describes an accelerating black hole. In this paper we discuss the propagation of light rays and the resulting lensing features in this metric. We first solve the lightlike…
Electromagnetism in an inhomogeneous dielectric medium at rest is described using the methods of differential geometry. In contrast to a general relativistic approach the electromagnetic fields are discussed in three-dimensional space only.…
We show with the help of Fermat's principle that every lightlike geodesic in the NUT metric projects to a geodesic of a two-dimensional Riemannian metric which we call the optical metric. The optical metric is defined on a (coordinate) cone…
Lensing in a spherically symmetric and static spacetime is considered, based on the lightlike geodesic equation without approximations. After fixing two radius values r_O and r_S, lensing for an observation event somewhere at r_O and static…
The theory of gravitational lensing is reviewed from a spacetime perspective, without quasi-Newtonian approximations. More precisely, the review covers all aspects of gravitational lensing where light propagation is described in terms of…
In a general-relativistic spacetime (Lorentzian manifold), gravitational lensing can be characterized by a lens map, in analogy to the lens map of the quasi-Newtonian approximation formalism. The lens map is defined on the celestial sphere…
We consider Lie groups equipped with a left-invariant cyclic Lorentzian metric. As in the Riemannian case, in terms of homogeneous structures, such metrics can be considered as different as possible from bi-invariant metrics. We show that…
Given a Lorentzian manifold $(M,g_L)$ and a timelike unitary vector field $E$, we can construct the Riemannian metric $g_R=g_L+2\omega\otimes\omega$, being $\omega$ the metrically equivalent one form to $E$. We relate the curvature of both…
Classical mechanics and geometrical optics are deeply connected with each other. In this work, we generalize the analogy between these two disciplines to relativistic conditions. Using this analogy, we are able to make light follow the…
We consider spacetime to be a 4-dimensional differentiable manifold that can be split locally into time and space. No metric, no linear connection are assumed. Matter is described by classical fields/fluids. We distinguish electrically…
Two K\"ahler metrics on a complex manifold are called c-projectively equivalent if their $J$-planar curves coincide. These curves are defined by the property that the acceleration is complex proportional to the velocity. We give an explicit…
Considered is the problem of local equivalence of generic four-dimensional metrics possessing two commuting and orthogonally transitive Killing vector fields. A sufficient set of eight differential invariants is explicitly constructed,…
Some basic theorems on Killing vector fields are reviewed. In particular, the topic of a constant-curvature space is examined. A detailed proof is given for a theorem describing the most general form of the metric of a homogeneous isotropic…
Light traveling through a liquid crystal with disclinations perceives a geometrical background which causes lensing effects similar to the ones predicted for cosmic objects like global monopoles and cosmic strings. In this article we…
In general relativity, spatial light rays of static spherically symmetric spacetimes are geodesics of surfaces in Riemannian optical geometry. In this paper, we apply results on the isoperimetric problem to show that length-minimizing…