Superluminal Caustics of Close, Rapidly-Rotating Binary Microlenses

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

12 pages, 7 ps figures, submitted to ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/309468

The two outer triangular caustics (regions of infinite magnification) of a close binary microlens move much faster than the components of the binary themselves, and can even exceed the speed of light. When $\epsilon > 1$, where $\epsilon c$ is the caustic speed, the usual formalism for calculating the lens magnification breaks down. We develop a new formalism that makes use of the gravitational analog of the Li\'enard-Wiechert potential. We find that as the binary speeds up, the caustics undergo several related changes: First, their position in space drifts. Second, they rotate about their own axes so that they no longer have a cusp facing the binary center of mass. Third, they grow larger and dramatically so for $\epsilon >> 1$. Fourth, they grow weaker roughly in proportion to their increasing size. Superluminal caustic-crossing events are probably not uncommon, but they are difficult to observe.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Superluminal Caustics of Close, Rapidly-Rotating Binary Microlenses 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 Superluminal Caustics of Close, Rapidly-Rotating Binary Microlenses, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Superluminal Caustics of Close, Rapidly-Rotating Binary Microlenses will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-686193

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.