Related papers: Caustics of Compensated Spherical Lens Models
To date, in almost all strong gravitational lensing analyses for modeling giant arc systems and multiple quasar images, it has been assumed that all the deflecting matter is concentrated in one lens plane at a certain distance - the thin…
We discuss whether one should expect that multiply imaged QSOs can be understood with `simple' lens models which contain a handful of parameters. Whereas for many lens systems such simple mass models yield a remarkably good description of…
The scattering structures in the ISM responsible for so-called ``extreme scattering events" (ESEs), observed in quasars and pulsars, remain enigmatic. Current models struggle to explain the high-frequency light curves of ESEs, and a recent…
This paper revisits the controversy concerning whether gravitational lensing effects make a significant difference to estimation of distance to the Cosmic Microwave Background last scattering surface in cosmology. A recent paper by Kaiser…
Some aspects of gravitational lensing by large scale structure (LSS) are investigated. We show that lensing causes the damping tail of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum to fall less rapidly with decreasing angular scale…
We study strong gravitational lensing by spiral galaxies, modeling them as infinitely thin uniform disks embedded in singular isothermal spheres. We derive general properties of the critical curves and caustics analytically. The…
Short duration lensing events tend to be generated by low-mass lenses or by lenses with high transverse velocities. Furthermore, for any given lens mass and speed, events of short duration are preferentially caused by nearby lenses…
The analysis of strong lensing images usually involves an external convergence and shear, which are meant to model the effect of perturbations along the line of sight, on top of the main lens. Such a description of line-of-sight…
The magnifications of the images in a strong gravitational lens system are sensitive to small mass clumps in the lens potential; this effect has been used to infer the amount of substructure in galaxy dark matter halos. I study the theory…
There are two possible causes of variability in gravitationally lensed quasars: intrinsic fluctuations of the quasar and ``microlensing'' by compact objects along the line of sight. If disentangled from each other, microlens-induced…
We have worked out simple analytical formulae that accurately approximate the relationship between the position of the source with respect to the lens center and the amplification of the images, hence the lens cross section, for realistic…
In quasars which are lensed by galaxies, the point-like images sometimes show sharp and uncorrelated brightness variations (microlensing). These brightness changes are associated with the innermost region of the quasar passing through a…
The distribution of the cosmic convergence field is modeled using a large-deviation principle where all non-Gaussian contributions are computed from first principles. The geometry of the past light cone is accounted for by constructing the…
Multiple image gravitational lens systems, and especially quads are invaluable in determining the amount and distribution of mass in galaxies. This is usually done by mass modeling using parametric or free-form methods. An alternative way…
Gravitational lensing by the dual cusp catastrophes of the cold dark matter (CDM) caustic rings at cosmological distances may provide the tantalizing opportunity to detect CDM indirectly, and discriminate between axions and weakly…
Among known strongly lensed quasar systems, ~25% have gravitational potentials sufficiently flat (and sources sufficiently well aligned) to produce four images rather than two. The projected flattening of the lensing galaxy and tides from…
We find a simple expression for critical curves of a binary gravitational lens. On the basis of this, we present a parametric representation of such curves. The caustics can also be expressed with the same parameterization. The present…
The lensing information provided by multiple images, arclets, and statistical distortions can all be formulated as linear constraints on the arrival-time surface, and hence on the mass distribution. This reduces cluster lens reconstruction…
Cluster lensing has become an important tool in the search for high redshift galaxies through its ability to magnify sources. In order to determine the intrinsic properties of these galaxies, lensing mass models must be constructed to…
We study the lensing magnification effect on background galaxies. Differential magnification due to different magnifications of different source regions of a galaxy will change the lensed composite spectra. The derived properties of the…