Related papers: Optical refractive index and spacetime geometry
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 proposed in a previous paper [Opt. Commun. 228, 33 (2003)] a modified radiative transfer equation to describe radiative transfer in a medium with a spatially varying refractive index. The present paper is devoted to the demonstration…
We discuss how the vector nature of magnetic fields, and the geometrical interpretation of gravity introduced by general relativity, lead to a special coupling between magnetism and spacetime curvature. This magneto-geometrical interaction…
In this work we examine refraction of light by computing full solutions to axion electrodynamics. We also allow for the possibility of an additional plasma component. We then specialise to wavelengths which are small compared to background…
Light propagation through a normal medium is determined not only by the real part of the refractive index but also by its imaginary part, which represents optical gain and loss. Therefore, two media with different gain and loss landscapes…
We pursue a geometrical approach to gravitational lensing theory. We present a survey of the background theory of General Relativity, including particular properties of the Schwarzschild and Kerr solutions. Next we outline a proof of the…
In this work are reviewed several aspects of gravitational lensing produced by astrophysical bodies that strongly curve the spacetime in their vicinity. When an object with a photon sphere (e.g. a black hole) is interposed between a source…
The standard definition of gravitational lensing magnification is generalized to Lorentzian spacetimes, and it is shown how it can be interpreted geometrically in terms of the van Vleck determinant and the exponential map. This is joint…
The definition of a reference frame in General Relativity is achieved through the construction of a congruence of time-like world-lines. In this framework, splitting techniques enable us to express physical phenomena in analogy with Special…
We develop a theoretical framework that allows us to compare electromagnetism and gravitation in a fully covariant way. This new scenario does not rely on any kind of approximation nor associate objects with different operational meaning as…
The analysis of the Helmholtz equation is shown to lead to an exact Hamiltonian system of equations describing in terms of ray trajectories a very wide family of wave-like phenomena (including diffraction and interference) going much beyond…
The present paper reanalyzes the problem of the refractive properties of the physical vacuum and their modification under the action of the gravitational field and the electromagnetic field. This problem was studied in our previous works…
The study of light lensed by cosmic matter has yielded much information about astrophysical questions. Observations are explained using geometrical optics following a ray-based description of light. After deflection the lensed light…
General Relativity describes the trajectories of light-rays through curved spacetime near a massive object. In addition to gravitational lensing, we include an absorbing dielectric medium given by a complex refractive index known as the…
Spatial and/or temporal propagation of light waves in periodic optical structures offers a rather unique possibility to realize in a purely classical setting the optical analogues of a wide variety of quantum phenomena rooted in…
There is a venerable position in the philosophy of space and time that holds that the geometry of spacetime is conventional, provided one is willing to postulate a "universal force field". Here we ask a more focused question, inspired by…
A reference frame consists of: a reference space, a time scale and a spatial metric. The geometric structure induced by these objects in spacetime is developed. The existence of a class of spatial metrics that are rigid, have free mobility…
Black hole lensing and gravitational waves are, respectively, closely dependent of the property of the lens and radiation source. In this letter, a universal relation between them is established for a rotating black hole acting…
We describe gravitational lensing by a gravitational wave, in the regime in which multiple images of a light source are created. We adapt the vector formalism employed for ordinary gravitational lenses to the case of a non-stationary…
The present work shows that through a suitable change of variables relativistic dynamics can be mapped to light propagation in a non-homogeneous medium. A particle's trajectory through the modified space-time is thus formally equivalent to…