Optical Magnus effect on gravitational lensing

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the optical Magnus effect, a polarization-dependent transverse shift of light, influences gravitational lensing, revealing that it prevents Einstein rings from forming in symmetric lensing scenarios.

Contribution

It derives the wave packet equation of motion in curved spacetime and formulates a modified lens equation incorporating the optical Magnus effect, providing new insights into polarization effects in gravitational lensing.

Findings

Optical Magnus effect alters gravitational lensing predictions.

Einstein rings cannot form from point sources under symmetric lenses due to this effect.

Analytic solutions show how polarization influences image formation.

Abstract

The optical Magnus effect refers to transverse shift of a trajectory of light caused by its polarization and appears as a correction to geometrical optics at the linear order in wavelength. Here, we start from Maxwell's equations in a curved spacetime to derive the equation of motion for a wave packet of circularly polarized light, which confirms the known result involving the helicity-dependent anomalous velocity with some generalization and clarification. We then study possible consequences of the optical Magnus effect on gravitational lensing in the Schwarzschild spacetime as well as under a weak gravitational potential in an expanding spacetime. Among others, by formulating the lens equation modified to incorporate the optical Magnus effect, the Einstein ring is found impossible to emerge from a point source for any axially symmetric thin lens. Analytic solutions to the modified lens equation are also obtained for simple lens models, illuminating how image formation is affected by the optical Magnus effect.