Gravitational Lensing from a Spacetime Perspective

TL;DR

This paper reviews gravitational lensing from a full spacetime perspective, detailing the equations, techniques, and theorems for analyzing light propagation and image formation in various general-relativistic spacetimes.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive, quasi-Newtonian-free review of gravitational lensing, including new theorems on caustics, multiple imaging criteria, and explicit calculations in diverse spacetimes.

Findings

Derived general theorems on caustic classification and image multiplicity.

Presented explicit lensing calculations in Schwarzschild, Kerr, and other spacetimes.

Clarified the role of spacetime geometry in lensing phenomena.

Abstract

The theory of gravitational lensing is reviewed from a spacetime perspective, without quasi-Newtonian approximations. More precisely, the review covers all aspects of gravitational lensing where light propagation is described in terms of lightlike geodesics of a metric of Lorentzian signature. It includes the basic equations and the relevant techniques for calculating the position, the shape, and the brightness of images in an arbitrary general-relativistic spacetime. It also includes general theorems on the classification of caustics, on criteria for multiple imaging, and on the possible number of images. The general results are illustrated with examples of spacetimes where the lensing features can be explicitly calculated, including the Schwarzschild spacetime, the Kerr spacetime, the spacetime of a straight string, plane gravitational waves, and others.