Gravitational lenses
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Gravitational lenses
（Astronomy and astrophysics library）
Springer-Verlag, [1992]
- : us
- : gw
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 517-544) and indexes
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: us ISBN 9780387970707
Description
The theory, observations, and applications ofgravitational lensingconstitute one ofthe most rapidly growing branches ofextragalactic astrophysics. The deflection of light from very distant sources by intervening masses provides a unique possibility for the investigation of both background sources and lens mass distributions. Gravitational lensing manifestsitselfmost distinctly through multiply imaged QSOs and the formation of highly elongated im ages of distant galaxies ('arcs') and spectacular ring-like images of extra galactic radio sources. But the effects of gravitational light deflection are not limited to these prominent image configurations; more subtle, since not directly observable, consequences of lensing are the, possibly strong, mag nification of sources, which may permit observation of intrinsically fainter, or more distant, sources than would be visible without these natural tele scopes. Such light deflection can also affect the source counts of QSOs and of other compact extragalactic sources, and can lead to flux variability of sources owing to propagation effects. Trying to summarizethe theory and observationalstatus ofgravitational lensing in a monograph turned out to be a bigger problem than any of the authors anticipated when we started this project at the end of 1987, encour aged by Martin Harwit, who originally approached us. The development in the field has been very rapid during the last four years, both through the ory and through observation, and many sections have been rewritten several times, as the previous versions became out of date."
- Volume
-
: gw ISBN 9783540970705
Description
This systematic presentation of the current status and problems of the theory and observations of gravitational lensing starts from the equations of classical electrodynamics and general relativity, and develops for the first time gravitational lens theory from first principles. Beginning with simple models and basic properties of the lens mapping, the book proceeds to more complicated recent analytical and numerical treatments, thereby highlighting the prominent role played by lensing statistics in the interpretation of high-redshift objects. A detailed description of microlensing is given. The potential role of gravitational lenses as astronomical tools, for example, in determining the masses of cosmic objects and the scale of the universe and as natural telescopes, is pointed out. On the observational side, details of several known multiple QSOs, radio rings and luminous arcs, and the difficulties of observation and verification of lens systems are summarized. The basics of catastrophe theory, to the extent that it concerns singularities of plane maps, are derived and some techniques for numerical treatment of gravitational lensing are listed.
This book can be viewed both as a textbook and as a research monograph.
Table of Contents
- Basic facts and the observational situation
- optics in curved spacetime
- derivation of the lens equation
- properties of the lens mapping
- lensing near critical points
- Wave optics in gravitational lensing
- simple Lens models
- multiple light deflection
- numerical methods
- statistical gravitational lensing: general considerations
- statistical gravitational lensing: applications
- gravitational lenses as astrophysical tools.
by "Nielsen BookData"