2,277 research outputs found
Strong field limit analysis of gravitational retro-lensing
We present a complete treatment in the strong field limit of gravitational
retro-lensing by a static spherically symmetric compact object having a photon
sphere. The results are compared with those corresponding to ordinary lensing
in similar strong field situations. As examples of application of the
formalism, a supermassive black hole at the galactic center and a stellar mass
black hole in the galactic halo are studied as retro-lenses, in both cases
using the Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordstrom geometries.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure; v2: minor changes. Accepted for publication in
Physical Review
Strong Gravitational Lensing by Sgr A*
In recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the potential of
the galactic center as a probe of general relativity in the strong field. There
is almost certainly a black hole at Sgr A* in the galactic center, and this
would allow us the opportunity to probe dynamics near the exterior of the black
hole. In the last decade, there has been research into extreme gravitational
lensing in the galactic center. Unlike in most applications of gravitational
lensing, where the bending angle is of the order of several arc seconds, very
large bending angles are possible for light that closely approaches a black
hole. Photons may even loop multiple times around a black hole before reaching
the observer. There have been many proposals to use light's close approach to
the black hole as a probe of the black hole metric. Of particular interest is
the property of light lensed by the S stars orbiting in the galactic center.
This paper will review some of the attempts made to study extreme lensing as
well as extend the analysis of lensing by S stars. In particular, we are
interested in the effect of a Reissner-Nordstrom like 1/r^2 term in the metric
and how this would affect the properties of relativistic images.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. Submitted as invited review article for the GR19
issue of CQ
Microlensing Detections of Moons of Exoplanets
We investigate the characteristic of microlensing signals of Earth-like moons
orbiting ice-giant planets. From this, we find that non-negligible satellite
signals occur when the planet-moon separation is similar to or greater than the
Einstein radius of the planet. We find that the satellite signal does not
diminish with the increase of the planet-moon separation beyond the Einstein
radius of the planet unlike the planetary signal which vanishes when the planet
is located well beyond the Einstein radius of the star. We also find that the
satellite signal tends to have the same sign as that of the planetary signal.
These tendencies are caused by the lensing effect of the star on the moon in
addition to the effect of the planet. We determine the range of satellite
separations where the microlensing technique is optimized for the detections of
moons. By setting an upper limit as the angle-average of the projected Hill
radius and a lower limit as the half of the Einstein radius of the planet, we
find that the microlensing method would be sensitive to moons with projected
separations from the planet of for a Jupiter-mass planet, for a Saturn-mass planet, and for a Uranus-mass planet. We compare the
characteristics of the moons to be detected by the microlensing and transit
techniquesComment: 6pages, 6 figure
Light's Bending Angle due to Black Holes: From the Photon Sphere to Infinity
The bending angle of light is a central quantity in the theory of
gravitational lensing. We develop an analytical perturbation framework for
calculating the bending angle of light rays lensed by a Schwarzschild black
hole. Using a perturbation parameter given in terms of the gravitational radius
of the black hole and the light ray's impact parameter, we determine an
invariant series for the strong-deflection bending angle that extends beyond
the standard logarithmic deflection term used in the literature. In the
process, we discovered an improvement to the standard logarithmic deflection
term. Our perturbation framework is also used to derive as a consistency check,
the recently found weak deflection bending angle series. We also reformulate
the latter series in terms of a more natural invariant perturbation parameter,
one that smoothly transitions between the weak and strong deflection series. We
then compare our invariant strong deflection bending-angle series with the
numerically integrated exact formal bending angle expression, and find less
than 1% discrepancy for light rays as far out as twice the critical impact
parameter. The paper concludes by showing that the strong and weak deflection
bending angle series together provide an approximation that is within 1% of the
exact bending angle value for light rays traversing anywhere between the photon
sphere and infinity.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure
Crisis in the Making: What is Wrong with Pennsylvania Public Health Law
There are few areas of government enterprise where the need to “get it right” is so critical as formulating and executing laws affecting the public health. When the government sets out to exercise its police power 1 to control the spread of disease, its goal is to accomplish an immensely important practical task; and its success is to a great degree objectively determinable—the spread of disease is either curtailed or not. However, the manner in which the government’s goal is reached reflects not only its pragmatic concerns but also a society’s political, social, and legal values
Maximal Acceleration Effects in Kerr Space
We consider a model in which accelerated particles experience line--elements
with maximal acceleration corrections that are introduced by means of
successive approximations. It is shown that approximations higher than the
first need not be considered. The method is then applied to the Kerr metric.
The effective field experienced by accelerated test particles contains
corrections that vanish in the limit , but otherwise affect the
behaviour of matter greatly. The corrections generate potential barriers that
are external to the horizon and are impervious to classical particles.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, to appear on Phys. Lett.
Estimating the parameters of the Sgr A* black hole
The measurement of relativistic effects around the galactic center may allow
in the near future to strongly constrain the parameters of the supermassive
black hole likely present at the galactic center (Sgr A*). As a by-product of
these measurements it would be possible to severely constrain, in addition,
also the parameters of the mass-density distributions of both the innermost
star cluster and the dark matter clump around the galactic center.Comment: Accepted for publication on General Relativity and Gravitation, 2010.
11 Pages, 1 Figur
Prediction in forensic science: a critical examination of common understandings
In this commentary, we argue that the term 'prediction' is overly used when in fact, referring to foundational writings of de Finetti, the correspondent term should be inference. In particular, we intend (i) to summarize and clarify relevant subject matter on prediction from established statistical theory, and (ii) point out the logic of this understanding with respect practical uses of the term prediction. Written from an interdisciplinary perspective, associating statistics and forensic science as an example, this discussion also connects to related fields such as medical diagnosis and other areas of application where reasoning based on scientific results is practiced in societal relevant contexts. This includes forensic psychology that uses prediction as part of its vocabulary when dealing with matters that arise in the course of legal proceedings
La naturaleza decisoria de las conclusiones de los expertos en ciencia forense (The decisionalization of individualization)
En la ciencia forense y ramas de la ciencia adyacentes, tanto investigadores del ámbito académico como quienes las practican continúan divergiendo en la percepción y comprensión del término “individualización”, es decir, la defensa de la tesis de que es posible reducir un conjunto de potenciales donantes de un vestigio forense a una única fuente. En concreto, se ha puesto de manifiesto que recientes cambios que entienden la práctica de la individualización como una decisión no son más que un mero cambio de etiqueta [1], dejando los cambios fundamentales en el orden del pensar y del entender aún pendientes. Es más, asociaciones profesionales y expertos huyen de adherirse a la noción de decisión tal y como la define la teoría formal de la decisión en la que la individualización puede contextualizarse, principalmente por las dificultades para tratar sobre las medidas de deseabilidad o no de las consecuencias de las decisiones (por ejemplo, utilizando las funciones de utilidad). Apoyándose en investigaciones existentes en esta área, este artículo presenta y discute sobre conceptos fundamentales de utilidades y costes, con particular referencia a su aplicación a la individualización forense. El artículo subraya que una adecuada comprensión de las herramientas de la decisión no solo reduce el número de asignaciones individuales que la aplicación de la teoría de la decisión requiere, sino que también muestra cómo esas asignaciones pueden relacionarse significativamente con las propiedades constituyentes del problema de la decisión en el mundo real al que se aplica la teoría. Se argumenta que la “decisionalización” de la individualización requiere esa percepción fundamental para iniciar cambios en las comprensiones subyacentes de esos campos, no meramente en el ámbito de sus etiquetas
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