A new method to test the cosmic distance duality relation using the strongly lensed gravitational waves

We propose a new method to test the cosmic distance duality relation using the strongly lensed gravitational waves. The simultaneous observation of the image positions, relative time delay between different images, redshift measurements of the lens and the source, together with the mass modelling of the lens galaxy, provide the angular diameter distance to the gravitational wave source. On the other hand, the luminosity distance to the source can be obtained from the observation of the gravitational wave signals. To our knowledge this is the first time a method is proposed to simultaneously measure the angular diameter distance and the luminosity distance from the same source. Hence, the strongly lensed gravitational waves provide a unique method to test the cosmic distance duality relation. With the construction of the third generation gravitational detectors such as the Einstein Telescope, it will be possible to test the cosmic distance duality relation with an accuracy of a few percent.     

Increase of the Number of Detectable Gravitational Waves Signals Due to Gravitational Lensing

This article deals with the gravitational lensing (GL) of gravitational waves (GW). We compute the increase in the number of detected GW events due to GL. First, we check that geometrical optics is valid for the GW frequency range on which Earth-based detectors are sensitive, and that this is also partially true for what concerns the future space-based interferometer LISA. To infer this result, both the diffraction parameter and a cut-off frequency are computed. Then, the variation in the number of GW signals is estimated in the general case, and applied to some lens models: point mass lens and singular isothermal sphere (SIS profile). An estimation of the magnification factor has also been done for the softened isothermal sphere and for the King profile. The results appear to be strongly model-dependent, but in all cases the increase in the number of detected GW signals is negligible. The use of time delays among images is also investigated.     

Testing the variation of the fine structure constant with strongly lensed gravitational waves

The possible variation of the electromagnetic fine structure constant, αe, at cosmological scales has aroused great interest in recent years. Strongly lensed gravitational waves(GWs) and their electromagnetic counterparts could be used to test this variation. Under the assumption that the speed of a photon can be modified,whereas the speed of a GW is the same as predicted by general relativity, and they both propagate in a flat FriedmanRobertson-Walker universe, we investigated the difference in time delays of the images and derived the upper bound of the variation of αe. For a typical lensing system in the standard cosmological models, we obtained B cosθ 1.85×10~(-5),where B is the dipolar amplitude and θ is the angle between observation and the preferred direction. Our result is consistent with the most up-to-date observations on αe. In addition, the observations of strongly lensed GWs and their electromagnetic counterparts could be used to test which types of alternative theories of gravity can account for the variation of α_e.     

Weak gravitational lensing of the CMB

Weak gravitational lensing has several important effects on the cosmic microwave background (CMB): it changes the CMB power spectra, induces non-Gaussianities, and generates a B-mode polarization signal that is an important source of confusion for the signal from primordial gravitational waves. The lensing signal can also be used to help constrain cosmological parameters and lensing mass distributions. We review the origin and calculation of these effects. Topics include: lensing in General Relativity, the lensing potential, lensed temperature and polarization power spectra, implications for constraining inflation, non-Gaussian structure, reconstruction of the lensing potential, delensing, sky curvature corrections, simulations, cosmological parameter estimation, cluster mass reconstruction, and moving lenses/dipole lensing.     

Discovery of eight lensing clusters of galaxies

Clusters of galaxies have a huge mass which can act as gravitational lenses.Galaxies behind clusters can be distorted by the lenses to form arcs in images.Herein a search was done for giant lensed arcs using the SDSS data.By visually inspecting SDSS images of newly identified clusters in the SDSS DR8 and Stripe 82 data,we discover 8 strong lensing clusters together with additional 3probable and 6 possible cases.The lensed arcs show bluer colors than the member galaxies of clusters.The masses and optical luminosities of galaxy clusters interior to the arcs are calculated.The mass-to-light ratios are found to be in the range of a few tens of M⊙/L⊙,consistent with the distribution of previously known lensing clusters.     

Search for strong gravitational lensing effect in the current GRB data of BATSE

Because gamma-ray bursts(GRBs)trace the high-z universe,there is an appreciable probability for a GRB to be gravitational lensed by galaxies in the universe.Herein we consider the gravitational lensing effect of GRBs contributed by the dark matter halos in galaxies.Assuming that all halos have the singular isothermal sphere(SIS)mass profile in the mass range 1010h?1M?M2×1013h?1M?and all GRB samples follow the intrinsic redshift distribution and luminosity function derived from the Swift LGRBs sample,we calculated the gravitational lensing probability in BATSE,Swift/BAT and Fermi/GBM GRBs,respectively.With an derived probability result in BATSE GRBs,we searched for lensed GRB pairs in the BATSE5B GRB Spectral catalog.The search did not find any convincing gravitationally lensed events.We discuss our result and future observations for GRB lensing observation.     

Mathematics of gravitational lensing: multiple imaging and magnification

The mathematical theory of gravitational lensing has revealed many generic and global properties. Beginning with multiple imaging, we review Morse-theoretic image counting formulas and lower bound results, and complex-algebraic upper bounds in the case of single and multiple lens planes. We discuss recent advances in the mathematics of stochastic lensing, discussing a general formula for the global expected number of minimum lensed images as well as asymptotic formulas for the probability densities of the microlensing random time delay functions, random lensing maps, and random shear, and an asymptotic expression for the global expected number of micro-minima. Multiple imaging in optical geometry and a spacetime setting are treated. We review global magnification relation results for model-dependent scenarios and cover recent developments on universal local magnification relations for higher order caustics.     

Strong lensing of gravitational waves as seen by LISA

We discuss strong gravitational lensing of gravitational waves from the merging of massive black hole binaries in the context of the LISA mission. Detection of multiple events would provide invaluable information on competing theories of gravity, evolution and formation of structures and, possibly, constraints on H0 and other cosmological parameters. Most of the optical depth for lensing is provided by intervening massive galactic halos, for which wave optics effects are negligible. Probabilities to observe multiple events are sizable for a broad range of formation histories. For the most optimistic models, up to ? 4 multiple events with a signal to noise ratio ? 8 are expected in a 5-year mission. Chances are significant even for conservative models with either light (? 60%) or heavy (? 40%) seeds. Because of lensing amplification, some intrinsically too faint signals are brought over threshold (? 2 per year).     

Gravitational lensing of transient neutrino sources by black holes

In this work we study gravitational lensing of neutrinos by Schwarzschild black holes. In particular, we analyze the case of a neutrino transient source associated with a gamma-ray burst lensed by a supermassive black hole located at the center of an interposed galaxy. We show that the primary and secondary images have an angular separation beyond the resolution of forthcoming km-scale detectors, but the signals from each image have time delays between them that in most cases are longer than the typical duration of the intrinsic events. In this way, the signal from different images can be detected as separate events coming from the very same location in the sky. This would render an event that otherwise might have had a low signal-to-noise ratio a clear detection, since the probability of a repetition of a signal from the same direction is negligible. The relativistic images are so faint and proximate that are beyond the sensitivity and resolution of the next-generation instruments.     

Constraining fast radio burst progenitors with gravitational lensing

Fast Radio Bursts(FRBs)are new transient radio sources discovered recently.Because of the angular resolution restriction in radio surveys,no optical counter part has been identified yet so it is hard to determine the progenitor of FRBs.In this paper we propose to use radio lensing survey to constrain FRB progenitors.We show that,different types of progenitors lead to different probabilities for a FRB to be gravitationally lensed by dark matter halos in foreground galaxies,since different type progenitors result in different redshift distributions of FRBs.For example,the redshift distribution of FRBs arising from double stars shifts toward lower redshift than of the FRBs arising from single stars,because double stars and single stars have different evolution timescales.With detailed calculations,we predict that the FRB sample size for producing one lensing event varies significantly for different FRB progenitor models.We argue that this fact can be used to distinguish different FRB models and also discuss the practical possibility of using lensing observation in radio surveys to constrain FRB progenitors.     

Physics of interferometric gravitational wave detectors

The Caltech-MIT joint LIGO project is operating three long-baseline interferometers (one of 2 km and two of 4 km) in order to unambiguously measure the infinitesimal displacements of isolated test masses which convey the signature of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources. An interferometric gravitational wave detector like LIGO is a complex, non-linear, coupled, dynamic system. This article summarizes various interesting design characteristics of these detectors and techniques that were implemented in order to reach and maintain its operating condition. Specifically, the following topics are discussed: (i) length sensing and control, (ii) alignment sensing and control and (iii) thermal lensing which changes the performance and operating point of the interferometer as the input power to LIGO is increased.     

Lensing by Gravitational Waves from Supernovae

Gravitational waves can act as gravitationallenses and create multiple images of a light source.This situation is much more interesting thansingle-image lensing because of the associatedhigh-amplification events that may lead to the indirect detectionof gravitational waves. It is proposed to observe theeffect due to gravitational waves generated in supernovaexplosions.     

Gravitational Waves and Extra Dimensions: A Short Review *

We give a brief review on the recent development of gravitational waves in extra-dimensional theories of gravity. Studying extra-dimensional theories with gravitational waves provides a new way to constrain extra dimensions. After a flash look at the history of gravitational waves and a brief introduction to several major extra-dimensional theories, we focus on the sources and spectra of gravitational waves in extra-dimensional theories. It is shown that one can impose limits on the size of extra dimensions and the curvature of the universe by researching the propagations of gravitational waves and the corresponding electromagnetic waves. Since gravitational waves can propagate throughout the bulk, how the amplitude of gravitational waves decreases determines the number of extra dimensions for some models. In addition, we also briefly present some other characteristics of gravitational waves in extra-dimensional theories.     

The prospects of using gravitational waves for constraining the anisotropy of the Universe

The observation of GW150914 gave a new independent measurement of the luminosity distance of a gravitational wave event. In this paper, we constrain the anisotropy of the Universe by using gravitational wave events.We simulate hundreds of events of binary neutron star merger that may be observed by the Einstein Telescope. Full simulation of the production process of gravitational wave data is employed. We find that 200 binary neutron star merging events with the redshift in (0,1) observed by the Einstein Telescope may constrain the anisotropy with an accuracy comparable to that from the Union2.1 supernovae. This result shows that gravitational waves can be a powerful tool for investigating cosmological anisotropy.     

Spherically Symmetric Wormhole Gravitational Lens Deflection Angle Signifying Braneworld Cosmology

Previously, the gravitational lens of a wormhole was introduced by various researchers. Their treatment was focused basically on the lens signature that describes wormhole geometrical character such as the differences from a black hole or between any various types of wormhole models. The braneworld scenario provides the idea of spacetime with underlying extra-dimensions. The inclusion of extra-dimensional terms in the lens object spacetime line element will result in some variation in the expression for its gravitational lens deflection angle.Thus in this paper we investigate such variation by deriving this deflection angle expression. As such, this paper not only shows the existence of such variation but also suggests the potential utilization of gravitational lensing to prove the existence of extra dimensions by studying the deflection angle characteristic in accordance with the spacetime expansion rate of the universe.     

Global Properties of Gravitational Lens Maps¶in a Lorentzian Manifold Setting

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 of the observer (or on part of it) and it takes values in a two-dimensional manifold representing a two-parameter family of worldlines. In this article we use methods from differential topology to characterize global properties of the lens map. Among other things, we use the mapping degree (also known as Brouwer degree) of the lens map as a tool for characterizing the number of images in gravitational lensing situations. Finally, we illustrate the general results with gravitational lensing (a) by a static string, (b) by a spherically symmetric body, (c) in asymptotically simple and empty spacetimes, and (d) in weakly perturbed Robertson–Walker spacetimes. Received: 16 October 2000 / Accepted: 18 January 2001     

Regular Magnetic Black Hole Gravitational Lensing

The Bronnikov regular magnetic black hole as a gravitational lens is studied. In nonlinear electrodynamics,photons do not follow null geodesics of background geometry; but move along null geodesics of a corresponding effective geometry. To study the Bronnikov regular magnetic black hole gravitational lensing in the strong deflection limit, the corresponding effective geometry should be obtained firstly. This is the most important and key step. We obtain the deflection angle in the strong deflection limit, and further calculate the angular positions and magnifications of relativistic images as well as the time delay between different relativistic images. The influence of the magnetic charge on the black hole gravitational lensing is also discussed.     

Separation of gravitational-wave and cosmic-shear contributions to cosmic microwave background polarization

Inflationary gravitational waves (GW) contribute to the curl component in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Cosmic shear--gravitational lensing of the CMB--converts a fraction of the dominant gradient polarization to the curl component. Higher-order correlations can be used to map the cosmic shear and subtract this contribution to the curl. Arcminute resolution will be required to pursue GW amplitudes smaller than those accessible by the Planck surveyor mission. The blurring by lensing of small-scale CMB power leads with this reconstruction technique to a minimum detectable GW amplitude corresponding to an inflation energy near 10(15) GeV.     

Gravitational Wave Holography

We represent and discuss a theory of gravitational holography in which all the involved waves; subject, reference and illuminator are gravitational waves (GW). Although these waves are so weak that no terrestrial experimental set-ups, even the large LIGO, VIRGO, GEO and TAMA facilities, were able up to now to directly detect them they are, nevertheless, known under certain conditions (such as very small wavelengths) to be almost indistinguishable (see P. 962, in Misner, C. W., Thorne, K. S., and Wheeler, J. A. (1973). Gravitation, Freeman, San Francisco.) from their analogue electromagnetic waves (EMW). We, therefore theoretically, show, using the known methods of optical holography and taking into account the very peculiar nature of GW, that it is also possible to reconstruct subject gravitational waves. PACS numbers: 42.40.-i, 42.40.Eq, 04.30.-w, 04.30.Nk     

Letter: Gravitational Waves in the Generalized Chaplygin Gas Model

The consequences of taking the generalized Chaplygin gas as the dark energy constituent of the Universe on the gravitational waves are studied and the spectrum obtained from this model, for the flat case, is analyzed. Besides its importance for the study of the primordial Universe, the gravitational waves represent an additional perspective (besides the CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies) to evaluate the consistence of the different dark energy models and establish better constraints to their parameters. The analysis presented here takes this fact into consideration to open one more perspective of verification of the generalized Chaplygin gas model applicability. Nine particular cases are compared: one where no dark energy is present; two that simulate the -CDM model; two where the gas acts like the traditional Chaplygin gas; and four where the dark energy is the generalized Chaplygin gas. The different spectra permit to distinguish the -CDM and the Chaplygin gas scenarios.