On lensing by a cosmological constant

Details On lensing by a cosmological constant On lensing by a cosmological constant

2008-09-10

arxiv.org/abs/0809.1819v2

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

10 pages, 6 figures. Added new Section 3 and Figures 1,2,5. To appear in MNRAS

Scientific paper

10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.16032.x

Several recent papers have suggested that the cosmological constant Lambda directly influences the gravitational deflection of light. We place this problem in a cosmological context, deriving an expression for the linear potentials which control the cosmological bending of light, finding that it has no explicit dependence on the cosmological constant. To explore the physical origins of the apparent Lambda-dependent potential that appears in the static Kottler metric, we highlight the two classical effects which lead to the aberration of light. The first relates to the observer's motion relative to the source, and encapsulates the familiar concept of angular-diameter distance. The second term, which has proved to be the source of debate, arises from cosmic acceleration, but is rarely considered since it vanishes for photons with radial motion. This apparent form of light-bending gives the appearance of curved geodesics even within a flat and homogeneous universe. However this cannot be construed as a real lensing effect, since its value depends on the observer's frame of reference. Our conclusion is thus that standard results for gravitational lensing in a universe containing Lambda do not require modification, with any influence of Lambda being restricted to negligible high-order terms.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

On lensing by a cosmological constant does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with On lensing by a cosmological constant, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and On lensing by a cosmological constant will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-161687