New Consistency Relations between Averages and Variances of Weakly Lensed Signals of Gravitational Waves

TL;DR

This paper derives new consistency relations linking averages and variances of weakly lensed gravitational wave signals, enhancing understanding of lensing effects in wave optics.

Contribution

It introduces two novel consistency relations between averages and variances of weakly lensed GW signals, extending previous variance-only relations.

Findings

Derived from energy conservation and Shapiro delay principles.

Hold regardless of matter distribution.

Applicable in the weak lensing regime for gravitational waves.

Abstract

The lensing of gravitational waves (GWs) occurs when GWs experience local gravitational potential. In the weak lensing regime, it has been reported that a simple consistency relation holds between the variances of the magnification and phase modulation. In this paper, we present two additional consistency relations between the averages and variances of the weakly lensed GW signals in wave optics. We demonstrate that these consistency relations are derived as the weak lensing limit of the full-order relations for the averages of the amplification factor and its absolute square. These full-order relations appear to originate from energy conservation and the Shapiro time delay, and they are demonstrated to hold irrespective of the matter distribution.