The Scales of Gravitational Lensing

TL;DR

Gravitational lensing, a century-old phenomenon rooted in general relativity, remains a vital tool in astrophysics and cosmology for studying dark matter, dark energy, black holes, and exoplanets, thanks to ongoing technological advances.

Contribution

This paper reviews the enduring importance and expanding applications of gravitational lensing in modern astrophysics and cosmology, highlighting recent technological progress.

Findings

Lensing helps map stellar distributions in the Milky Way.

It enables study of dark matter and dark energy on large scales.

Technological advances improve measurement of black hole parameters.

Abstract

After exactly a century since the formulation of the general theory of relativity, the phenomenon of gravitational lensing is still an extremely powerful method for investigating in astrophysics and cosmology. Indeed, it is adopted to study the distribution of the stellar component in the Milky Way, to study dark matter and dark energy on very large scales and even to discover exoplanets. Moreover, thanks to technological developments, it will allow the measure of the physical parameters (mass, angular momentum and electric charge) of supermassive black holes in the center of ours and nearby galaxies.