Gravitational Lensing of Millisecond Pulsars

1996 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Galactic Plane ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Distant Source ◽  
Pulsar Timing ◽  
Strong Lensing ◽  
Timing Properties ◽  
Lens Change ◽  
Delay Variations ◽  
Time Standard

AbstractGravitational lensing can significantly magnify the images of astrophysical sources, but only if the source lies within the Einstein ring of the lens. In consequence the chance of any Galactic star magnifying a more distant source is extremely small—much less than one in a million. However, the extra light travel time (‘Shapiro delay’) introduced by the presence of a lens can be large even when there is negligible effect on the image magnification, and as the relative positions of source and lens change so does the delay. In this paper we quantify these changes and the corresponding influence on apparent timing properties of pulsars. While the total Shapiro delay can be large, it is the temporal variations in this quantity which are measurable with pulsar timing. We find that the magnitude of the expected delay variations is too small to be detectable except during strong lensing events, which are extremely rare. Even in the case of a high-velocity pulsar in the Galactic Plane, the stochastic Shapiro delay is typically expected not to have a substantial influence on the timing properties. In consequence the viability of a pulsar-based time standard is not adversely affected by gravitational lensing.

scholarly journals Gravitational lensing of gravitational waves: wave nature and prospects for detection

2019 ◽  
Vol 492 (1) ◽  
pp. 1127-1134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashish Kumar Meena ◽  
Jasjeet Singh Bagla
Keyword(s):  
Gravitational Waves ◽  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Galactic Plane ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Signal Source ◽  
Wave Nature ◽  
Strong Lensing ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Wave Effects ◽  
The Common

ABSTRACT We discuss the gravitational lensing of gravitational wave (GW) signals from coalescing binaries. We delineate the regime where wave effects are significant from the regime where geometric limit can be used. Further, we focus on the effect of microlensing and the combined effect of strong lensing and microlensing. We find that microlensing combined with strong lensing can introduce time varying phase shift in the signal and hence can lead to detectable differences in the signal observed for different images produced by strong lensing. This, coupled with the coarse localization of signal source in the sky for GW detections, can make it difficult to identify the common origin of signal corresponding to different images and use observables like time delay. In case we can reliably identify corresponding images, microlensing of individual images can be used as a tool to constrain properties of microlenses. Sources of gravitational waves can undergo microlensing due to lenses in the disc/halo of the Galaxy, or due to lenses in an intervening galaxy even in absence of strong lensing. In general the probability for this is small with one exception: extragalactic sources of GWs that lie in the galactic plane are highly likely to be microlensed. Wave effects are extremely important for such cases. In case of detections of such sources with low signal-to-noise ratio, the uncertainty of occurrence of microlensing or otherwise introduces an additional uncertainty in the parameters of the source.

scholarly journals Applying MOG to Lensing: Einstein Rings, Abell 520 and the Bullet Cluster

Galaxies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Moffat ◽  
Sohrab Rahvar ◽  
Viktor Toth
Keyword(s):  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Equations Of Motion ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
Test Particles ◽  
Strong Lensing ◽  
Modified Theory Of Gravity ◽  
Small Set ◽  
Modified Theory ◽  
Bending Of Light ◽  
Good Agreement

We investigate gravitational lensing in the context of the MOG modified theory of gravity. Using a formulation of the theory with no adjustable or fitted parameters, we present the MOG equations of motion for slow, nonrelativistic test particles and for ultrarelativistic test particles, such as rays of light. We demonstrate how the MOG prediction for the bending of light can be applied to astronomical observations. Our investigation first focuses on a small set of strong lensing observations where the properties of the lensing objects are found to be consistent with the predictions of the theory. We also present an analysis of the colliding clusters 1E0657-558 (known also as the Bullet Cluster) and Abell 520; in both cases, the predictions of the MOG theory are in good agreement with observation.

scholarly journals Shapes and alignments of dark matter haloes and their brightest cluster galaxies in 39 strong lensing clusters

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (3) ◽  
pp. 2591-2604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taizo Okabe ◽  
Masamune Oguri ◽  
Sébastien Peirani ◽  
Yasushi Suto ◽  
Yohan Dubois ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Cluster Galaxies ◽  
Brightest Cluster Galaxies ◽  
Strong Lensing ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Massive Clusters

ABSTRACT We study shapes and alignments of 45 dark matter (DM) haloes and their brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) using a sample of 39 massive clusters from Hubble Frontier Field (HFF), Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH), and Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey (RELICS). We measure shapes of the DM haloes by strong gravitational lensing, whereas BCG shapes are derived from their light profiles in Hubble Space Telescope images. Our measurements from a large sample of massive clusters presented here provide new constraints on DM and cluster astrophysics. We find that DM haloes are on average highly elongated with the mean ellipticity of 0.482 ± 0.028, and position angles of major axes of DM haloes and their BCGs tend to be aligned well with the mean value of alignment angles of 22.2 ± 3.9 deg. We find that DM haloes in our sample are on average more elongated than their BCGs with the mean difference of their ellipticities of 0.11 ± 0.03. In contrast, the Horizon-AGN cosmological hydrodynamical simulation predicts on average similar ellipticities between DM haloes and their central galaxies. While such a difference between the observations and the simulation may well be explained by the difference of their halo mass scales, other possibilities include the bias inherent to strong lensing measurements, limited knowledge of baryon physics, or a limitation of cold DM.

scholarly journals Pulsar Timing Arrays: Status and Techniques

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S291) ◽  
pp. 165-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Hobbs
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Gravitational Waves ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
High Quality ◽  
High Quality Data ◽  
Pulsar Timing ◽  
Time Standard ◽  
Near Future

AbstractThree pulsar timing arrays are now producing high quality data sets. As reviewed in this paper, these data sets are been processed to 1) develop a pulsar-based time standard, 2) search for errors in the solar system planetary ephemeris and 3) detect gravitational waves. It is expected that the data sets will significantly improve in the near future by combining existing observations and by using new telescopes.

scholarly journals STRONG GRAVITATIONAL LENSING AND ITS COSMIC CONSTRAINTS

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (14) ◽  
pp. 1350057 ◽  
Author(s):  
NANNAN WANG ◽  
LIXIN XU
Keyword(s):  
Cosmological Model ◽  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Velocity Dispersion ◽  
Model Space ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Spatial Curvature ◽  
Strong Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Strong Lensing ◽  
Λcdm Model ◽  
Stellar Velocity

In this paper, we propose a new method to use the strong lensing data sets to constrain a cosmological model. By taking the ratio [Formula: see text] as cosmic observations, one can completely eliminate the uncertainty caused by the relation σSIS= fEσ0which characterizes the relation between the stellar velocity dispersion σ0and the velocity dispersion σSIS. Via our method, a relative tight constraint to the cosmological model space can be obtained, for the spatially flat ΛCDM model as an example [Formula: see text] in 3σ regions. And by using this method, one can also probe the nature of dark energy and the spatial curvature of our Universe.

scholarly journals Dispersion measure variability for 36 millisecond pulsars at 150 MHz with LOFAR

2020 ◽  
Vol 644 ◽  
pp. A153
Author(s):  
J. Y. Donner ◽  
J. P. W. Verbiest ◽  
C. Tiburzi ◽  
S. Osłowski ◽  
J. Künsemöller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Propagation Delay ◽  
Dispersion Measure ◽  
Millisecond Pulsars ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Pulsar Timing ◽  
Variable Dispersion ◽  
Delay Variations ◽  
Plasma Dispersion

Context. Radio pulses from pulsars are affected by plasma dispersion, which results in a frequency-dependent propagation delay. Variations in the magnitude of this effect lead to an additional source of red noise in pulsar timing experiments, including pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) that aim to detect nanohertz gravitational waves. Aims. We aim to quantify the time-variable dispersion with much improved precision and characterise the spectrum of these variations. Methods. We use the pulsar timing technique to obtain highly precise dispersion measure (DM) time series. Our dataset consists of observations of 36 millisecond pulsars, which were observed for up to 7.1 yr with the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) telescope at a centre frequency of ~150 MHz. Seventeen of these sources were observed with a weekly cadence, while the rest were observed at monthly cadence. Results. We achieve a median DM precision of the order of 10−5 cm−3 pc for a significant fraction of our sources. We detect significant variations of the DM in all pulsars with a median DM uncertainty of less than 2 × 10−4 cm−3 pc. The noise contribution to pulsar timing experiments at higher frequencies is calculated to be at a level of 0.1–10 μs at 1.4 GHz over a timespan of a few years, which is in many cases larger than the typical timing precision of 1 μs or better that PTAs aim for. We found no evidence for a dependence of DM on radio frequency for any of the sources in our sample. Conclusions. The DM time series we obtained using LOFAR could in principle be used to correct higher-frequency data for the variations of the dispersive delay. However, there is currently the practical restriction that pulsars tend to provide either highly precise times of arrival (ToAs) at 1.4 GHz or a high DM precision at low frequencies, but not both, due to spectral properties. Combining the higher-frequency ToAs with those from LOFAR to measure the infinite-frequency ToA and DM would improve the result.

scholarly journals The impact of mass map truncation on strong lensing simulations

2020 ◽  
Vol 644 ◽  
pp. A108
Author(s):  
Lyne Van de Vyvere ◽  
Dominique Sluse ◽  
Sampath Mukherjee ◽  
Dandan Xu ◽  
Simon Birrer
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Evolution ◽  
Density Profile ◽  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Cosmological Parameters ◽  
Strong Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Strong Lensing ◽  
Dynamical Simulations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Einstein Radius ◽  
Specific Impact

Strong gravitational lensing is a powerful tool to measure cosmological parameters and to study galaxy evolution mechanisms. However, quantitative strong lensing studies often require mock observations. To capture the full complexity of galaxies, the lensing galaxy is often drawn from high resolution, dark matter only or hydro-dynamical simulations. These have their own limitations, but the way we use them to emulate mock lensed systems may also introduce significant artefacts. In this work we identify and explore the specific impact of mass truncation on simulations of strong lenses by applying different truncation schemes to a fiducial density profile with conformal isodensity contours. Our main finding is that improper mass truncation can introduce undesired artificial shear. The amplitude of the spurious shear depends on the shape and size of the truncation area as well as on the slope and ellipticity of the lens density profile. Due to this effect, the value of H0 or the shear amplitude inferred by modelling those systems may be biased by several percents. However, we show that the effect becomes negligible provided that the lens projected map extends over at least 50 times the Einstein radius.

scholarly journals Mapping the Distribution of Luminous and Dark Matter in Strong Lensing Galaxies

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S244) ◽  
pp. 206-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Ferreras ◽  
Prasenjit Saha ◽  
Liliya L. R. Williams ◽  
Scott Burles
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Stellar Population ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Population Synthesis ◽  
Massive Galaxies ◽  
Optical Images ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Stellar Population Synthesis ◽  
Strong Lensing

AbstractWe present the distribution of luminous and dark matter in a set of strong lensing (early-type) galaxies. By combining two independent techniques – stellar population synthesis and gravitational lensing – we can compare the baryonic and dark matter content in these galaxies within the regions that can be probed using the images of the lensed background source. Two samples were studied, extracted from the CASTLES and SLACS surveys. The former probes a wider range of redshifts and allows us to explore the mass distribution out to ~ 5Re. The high resolution optical images of the latter (using HST/ACS) are used to show a pixellated map of the ratio between total and baryonic matter. We find dark matter to be absent in the cores of these galaxies, with an increasing contribution at projected radii R ≳ Re. The slopes are roughly compatible with an isothermal slope (better interpreted as an adiabatically contracted NFW profile), but a large scatter in the slope exists among galaxies. There is a trend suggesting most massive galaxies have a higher content of dark matter in the regions probed by this analysis.

scholarly journals An excess of small-scale gravitational lenses observed in galaxy clusters

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 369 (6509) ◽  
pp. 1347-1351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Meneghetti ◽  
Guido Davoli ◽  
Pietro Bergamini ◽  
Piero Rosati ◽  
Priyamvada Natarajan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Galaxy Clusters ◽  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Gravitational Lenses ◽  
Strong Lensing ◽  
Luminous Matter ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
The Universe

Cold dark matter (CDM) constitutes most of the matter in the Universe. The interplay between dark and luminous matter in dense cosmic environments, such as galaxy clusters, is studied theoretically using cosmological simulations. Observations of gravitational lensing are used to characterize the properties of substructures—the small-scale distribution of dark matter—in clusters. We derive a metric, the probability of strong lensing events produced by dark-matter substructure, and compute it for 11 galaxy clusters. The observed cluster substructures are more efficient lenses than predicted by CDM simulations, by more than an order of magnitude. We suggest that systematic issues with simulations or incorrect assumptions about the properties of dark matter could explain our results.

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