16 research outputs found
Extreme gravitational lensing in vicinity of Schwarzschild-de Sitter black holes
We have developed a realistic, fully general relativistic computer code to
simulate optical projection in a strong, spherically symmetric gravitational
field. The standard theoretical analysis of optical projection for an observer
in the vicinity of a Schwarzschild black hole is extended to black hole
spacetimes with a repulsive cosmological constant, i.e, Schwarzschild-de Sitter
spacetimes. Influence of the cosmological constant is investigated for static
observers and observers radially free-falling from the static radius.
Simulations include effects of the gravitational lensing, multiple images,
Doppler and gravitational frequency shift, as well as the intensity
amplification. The code generates images of the sky for the static observer and
a movie simulations of the changing sky for the radially free-falling observer.
Techniques of parallel programming are applied to get a high performance and a
fast run of the BHC simulation code
Quasi-Equatorial Gravitational Lensing by Spinning Black Holes in the Strong Field Limit
Spherically symmetric black holes produce, by strong field lensing, two
infinite series of relativistic images, formed by light rays winding around the
black hole at distances comparable to the gravitational radius. In this paper,
we address the relevance of the black hole spin for the strong field lensing
phenomenology, focusing on trajectories close to the equatorial plane for
simplicity. In this approximation, we derive a two-dimensional lens equation
and formulae for the position and the magnification of the relativistic images
in the strong field limit. The most outstanding effect is the generation of a
non trivial caustic structure. Caustics drift away from the optical axis and
acquire finite extension. For a high enough black hole spin, depending on the
source extension, we can practically observe only one image rather than two
infinite series of relativistic images. In this regime, additional non
equatorial images may play an important role in the phenomenology.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. Improved version with detailed physical
discussio
A Search for Ultra-High Energy Counterparts to Gamma-Ray Bursts
A small air shower array operating over many years has been used to search
for ultra-high energy (UHE) gamma radiation ( TeV) associated with
gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the BATSE instrument on the Compton
Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO). Upper limits for a one minute interval after each
burst are presented for seven GRBs located with zenith angles . A excess over background was observed between 10 and
20 minutes following the onset of a GRB on 11 May 1991. The confidence level
that this is due to a real effect and not a background fluctuation is 99.8\%.
If this effect is real then cosmological models are excluded for this burst
because of absorption of UHE gamma rays by the intergalactic radiation fields.Comment: 4 pages LaTeX with one postscript figure. This version does not use
kluwer.sty and will allow automatic postscript generatio
Observing the First Stars and Black Holes
The high sensitivity of JWST will open a new window on the end of the
cosmological dark ages. Small stellar clusters, with a stellar mass of several
10^6 M_sun, and low-mass black holes (BHs), with a mass of several 10^5 M_sun
should be directly detectable out to redshift z=10, and individual supernovae
(SNe) and gamma ray burst (GRB) afterglows are bright enough to be visible
beyond this redshift. Dense primordial gas, in the process of collapsing from
large scales to form protogalaxies, may also be possible to image through
diffuse recombination line emission, possibly even before stars or BHs are
formed. In this article, I discuss the key physical processes that are expected
to have determined the sizes of the first star-clusters and black holes, and
the prospect of studying these objects by direct detections with JWST and with
other instruments. The direct light emitted by the very first stellar clusters
and intermediate-mass black holes at z>10 will likely fall below JWST's
detection threshold. However, JWST could reveal a decline at the faint-end of
the high-redshift luminosity function, and thereby shed light on radiative and
other feedback effects that operate at these early epochs. JWST will also have
the sensitivity to detect individual SNe from beyond z=10. In a dedicated
survey lasting for several weeks, thousands of SNe could be detected at z>6,
with a redshift distribution extending to the formation of the very first stars
at z>15. Using these SNe as tracers may be the only method to map out the
earliest stages of the cosmic star-formation history. Finally, we point out
that studying the earliest objects at high redshift will also offer a new
window on the primordial power spectrum, on 100 times smaller scales than
probed by current large-scale structure data.Comment: Invited contribution to "Astrophysics in the Next Decade: JWST and
Concurrent Facilities", Astrophysics & Space Science Library, Eds. H.
Thronson, A. Tielens, M. Stiavelli, Springer: Dordrecht (2008
Femtolensing by Dark Matter Revisited
Femtolensing of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) has been put forward as an exciting possibility to probe exotic astrophysical objects with masses below solar masses such as small primordial black holes or ultra-compact dark matter minihalos, made up for instance of QCD axions. In this paper we critically review this idea, properly taking into account the extended nature of the source as well as wave optics effects. We demonstrate that most GRBs are inappropriate for femtolensing searches due to their large sizes. This removes the previous femtolensing bounds on primordial black holes, implying that vast regions of parameter space for primordial black hole dark matter are not robustly constrained. Still, we entertain the possibility that a small fraction of GRBs, characterized by fast variability can have smaller sizes and be useful. However, a large number of such bursts would need to be observed to achieve meaningful constraints. We study the sensitivity of future observations as a function of the number of detected GRBs and of the size of the emission region.Femtolensing of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) has been put forward as an exciting possibility to probe exotic astrophysical objects with masses below 10â13 solar masses such as small primordial black holes or ultra-compact dark matter minihalos, made up for instance of QCD axions. In this paper we critically review this idea, properly taking into account the extended nature of the source as well as wave optics effects. We demonstrate that most GRBs are inappropriate for femtolensing searches due to their large sizes. This removes the previous femtolensing bounds on primordial black holes, implying that vast regions of parameter space for primordial black hole dark matter are not robustly constrained. Still, we entertain the possibility that a small fraction of GRBs, characterized by fast variability can have smaller sizes and be useful. However, a large number of such bursts would need to be observed to achieve meaningful constraints. We study the sensitivity of future observations as a function of the number of detected GRBs and of the size of the emission region