Apparent magnitudes in an inhomogeneous universe: the global viewpoint

Apparent magnitudes are important for high precision cosmology. It is generally accepted that weak gravitational lensing does not affect the relationship between apparent magnitude and redshift. By considering metric perturbations it is shown that objects observed in an inhomogeneous universe have, on average, higher apparent magnitudes than those observed at the same redshift in a homogeneous universe.Comment: 2 pages, Latex, with aastex and emulateapj

Gravitational lensing in spherically symmetric static spacetimes with centrifugal force reversal

In Schwarzschild spacetime the value $r=3m$ of the radius coordinate is characterized by three different properties: (a) there is a ``light sphere'', (b) there is ``centrifugal force reversal'', (c) it is the upper limiting radius for a non-transparent Schwarschild source to act as a gravitational lens that produces infinitely many images. In this paper we prove a theorem to the effect that these three properties are intimately related in {\em any} spherically symmetric static spacetime. We illustrate the general results with some examples including black-hole spacetimes and Morris-Thorne wormholes.Comment: 18 pages, 3 eps-figure

Gravitational lensing in the strong field limit

We provide an analytic method to discriminate among different types of black holes on the ground of their strong field gravitational lensing properties. We expand the deflection angle of the photon in the neighbourhood of complete capture, defining a strong field limit, in opposition to the standard weak field limit. This expansion is worked out for a completely generic spherically symmetric spacetime, without any reference to the field equations and just assuming that the light ray follows the geodesics equation. We prove that the deflection angle always diverges logarithmically when the minimum impact parameter is reached. We apply this general formalism to Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordstrom and Janis-Newman-Winicour black holes. We then compare the coefficients characterizing these metrics and find that different collapsed objects are characterized by different strong field limits. The strong field limit coefficients are directly connected to the observables, such as the position and the magnification of the relativistic images. As a concrete example, we consider the black hole at the centre of our galaxy and estimate the optical resolution needed to investigate its strong field behaviour through its relativistic images.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, in press on Physical Review

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

Lensing Effects on Gravitational Waves in a Clumpy Universe -Effects of Inhomogeneity on the Distance-Redshift Relation-

The distance-redshift relation determined by means of gravitational waves in the clumpy universe is simulated numerically by taking into account the effects of gravitational lensing. It is assumed that all of the matter in the universe takes the form of randomly distributed point masses, each of which has the identical mass $M_L$. Calculations are carried out in two extreme cases: $\lambda\gg GM_L/c^2$ and $\lambda\ll GM_L/c^2$, where $\lambda$ denotes the wavelength of gravitational waves. In the first case, the distance-redshift relation for the fully homogeneous and isotropic universe is reproduced with a small distance dispersion, whereas in the second case, the distance dispersion is larger. This result suggests that we might obtain information about the typical mass of lens objects through the distance-redshift relation gleaned through observation of gravitational waves of various wavelengths. In this paper, we show how to set limitations on the mass $M_L$ through the observation of gravitational waves in the clumpy universe model described above.Comment: 35 pages, 21 figures, ApJ accepted versio

On the exact gravitational lens equation in spherically symmetric and static spacetimes

Lensing in a spherically symmetric and static spacetime is considered, based on the lightlike geodesic equation without approximations. After fixing two radius values r_O and r_S, lensing for an observation event somewhere at r_O and static light sources distributed at r_S is coded in a lens equation that is explicitly given in terms of integrals over the metric coefficients. The lens equation relates two angle variables and can be easily plotted if the metric coefficients have been specified; this allows to visualize in a convenient way all relevant lensing properties, giving image positions, apparent brightnesses, image distortions, etc. Two examples are treated: Lensing by a Barriola-Vilenkin monopole and lensing by an Ellis wormhole.Comment: REVTEX, 11 pages, 12 eps-figures, figures partly improved, minor revision

Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by quintessence: Null geodesics

We have studied the null geodesics of the Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by quintessence matter. Quintessence matter is a candidate for dark energy. Here, we have done a detailed analysis of the geodesics and exact solutions are presented in terms of Jacobi-elliptic integrals for all possible energy and angular momentum of the photons. The circular orbits of the photons are studied in detail. As an application of the null geodesics, the angle of deflection of the photons are computed.Comment: 25 pages, 20 figures. typos corrected and some of the notation change

Non-Commutative Correction to Thin Shell Collapse in Reissner Nordstro¨\ddot{o}m Geometry

This paper investigates the polytropic matter shell collapse in the non-commutative Reissner-Nordstr$\ddot{o}$m geometry. Using the Israel criteria, equation of motion for the polytropic matter shell is derived. In order to explore the physical aspects of this equation, the most general equation of state, $p=k{\rho}^{({1+\frac{1}{n}})}$, has been used for finite and infinite values of $n$. The effective potentials corresponding to the equation of motion have been used to explain different states of the matter shell collapse. The numerical solution of the equation of motion predicts collapse as well as expansion depending on the choice of initial data. Further, in order to include the non-commutative correction, we modify the matter components and re-formulate the equation of motion as well as the corresponding effective potentials by including non-commutative factor and charge parameter. It is concluded that charge reduces the velocity of the expanding or collapsing matter shell but does not bring the shell to static position. While the non-commutative factor with generic matter favors the formation of black hole.Comment: 18 pages,17 figure

Dynamics of Charged Plane Symmetric Gravitational Collapse

In this paper, we study dynamics of the charged plane symmetric gravitational collapse. For this purpose, we discuss non-adiabatic flow of a viscous fluid and deduce the results for adiabatic case. The Einstein and Maxwell field equations are formulated for general plane symmetric spacetime in the interior. Junction conditions between the interior and exterior regions are derived. For the non-adiabatic case, the exterior is taken as plane symmetric charged Vaidya spacetime while for the adiabatic case, it is described by plane Reissner-Nordstr$\ddot{o}$m spacetime. Using Misner and Sharp formalism, we obtain dynamical equations to investigate the effects of different forces over the rate of collapse. In non-adiabatic case, a dynamical equation is joined with transport equation of heat flux. Finally, a relation between the Weyl tensor and energy density is found.Comment: 21 pages, accepted for publication Gen. Relativ. Gra