Lensing point-spread function of coherent astrophysical sources and non-trivial wave effects

TL;DR

This paper introduces the lensing point-spread function (LPSF), a frequency-dependent generalization of lensing images for coherent astrophysical sources, revealing non-trivial wave effects where traditional methods fail.

Contribution

It proposes the LPSF concept to extend lensing analysis to wave optics, identifying frequency ranges with significant wave effects and potential observational scenarios.

Findings

LPSF captures the transition from geometric to wave optics in lensing.

Identifies a specific frequency range with non-trivial wave effects.

Suggests observational contexts like gravitational waves and pulsar lensing.

Abstract

Most research on astrophysical lensing has been conducted using the geometric optics framework, where there exists a clear concept of lensing images. However, wave optics effects can be important for coherent sources, e.g. pulsars, fast raio bursts, and gravitational waves observed at long wavelengths. There, the concept of lensing images needs an extension. We introduce the concept of the `lensing point-spread function' (LPSF), the smoothed flux density distribution of a coherent point source after being lensed, as a generalization of the lensing image concept at finite frequencies. The frequency-dependent LPSF captures the gradual change of the flux density distribution of the source from discrete geometric images at high frequencies to a smooth distribution at low frequencies. It complements other generalizations of lensing images, notably the imaginary images and the Lefschetz thimbles. Being a footprint of a lensing system, the LPSF is useful for theoretical studies of lensing. Using the LPSF, we identify a frequency range with non-trivial wave effects, where both geometric optics and perturbative wave optics fail, and determine this range to be $|\kappa|^{-1} \lesssim \nu \lesssim 10$, with $\kappa$ and $\nu$ being the dimensionless lens amplitude and the reduced observing frequency, respectively. Observation of LPSFs with non-trivial wave effects requires either very close-by lenses or very large observing wavelengths. The potential possibilities are the lensing of gravitational waves, the plasma lensing of Milky Way pulsars, and lensing by the solar gravitational lens.