Wave-optical treatment of the shadow cast by a large gravitating sphere

Turyshev, Slava G.; Toth, Viktor T.

doi:10.1103/physrevd.98.104015

Cited by 12 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…As was already discussed in [16], there is no EM field in the geometric shadow behind the Sun and, thus, no light other than the classical Poisson-Arago bright spot [57].…”

Section: Em Field In the Shadow Regionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Diffraction of light by plasma in the solar system

Turyshev

Toth

2019

J. Opt.

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We study the propagation of electromagnetic (EM) waves in the solar system and develop a Mie theory that accounts for the refractive properties of the free electron plasma in the extended solar corona. We use a generic model for the electron number density distribution and apply the eikonal approximation to find a solution in terms of Debye potentials, which is then used to determine the EM field both within the inner solar system and at large heliocentric distances. As expected, the solution for the EM wave propagating through the solar system is characterized by a plasmainduced phase shift and related change in the light ray's direction of propagation. Our approach quantitatively accounts for these effects, providing a wave-optical treatment for diffraction in the solar plasma. As such, it may be used in practical applications involving big apertures, large interferometric baselines or otherwise widely distributed high-precision astronomical instruments.

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“…As was already discussed in [16], there is no EM field in the geometric shadow behind the Sun and, thus, no light other than the classical Poisson-Arago bright spot [57].…”

Section: Em Field In the Shadow Regionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Diffraction of light by plasma in the solar system

Turyshev

Toth

2019

J. Opt.

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“…Note that these expressions are valid for forward scattering when θ + b/z 0 ≪ 2r g /r, or when the deviation from the optical axis is small, 0 ≤ ρ r g . Substituting the complex amplitude A(x, x 0 ) from (9) into expression (6), we see that the amplitude of the EM field on the focal plane of an imaging telescope takes the following form:…”

Section: Modeling the Em Signal In The Focal Planementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, to derive the amplitudes of the EM field in the focal plane of the optical telescope, corresponding to (49) and (50), we need to put these expressions in (6) and evaluate an integral of the type…”

Section: B Very Large Displacements From the Optical Axismentioning

confidence: 99%

Image formation process with the solar gravitational lens

Turyshev

Toth

2020

Phys. Rev. D

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We study image formation with the solar gravitational lens (SGL). We consider a point source that is positioned at a large but finite distance from the Sun. We assume that an optical telescope is positioned in the image plane, in the focal region of the SGL. We model the telescope as a convex lens and evaluate the intensity distribution produced by the electromagnetic field that forms the image in the focal plane of the convex lens. We first investigate the case when the telescope is located on the optical axis of the SGL or in its immediate vicinity. This is the region of strong interference where the SGL forms an image of a distant source, which is our primary interest. We derive analytic expressions that describe the progression of the image from an Einstein ring corresponding to an on-axis telescope position, to the case of two bright spots when the telescope is positioned some distance away from the optical axis. At greater distances from the optical axis, in the region of weak interference and that of geometric optics, we recover expressions that are familiar from models of gravitational microlensing, but developed here using a wave-optical treatment. We discuss applications of the results for imaging and spectroscopy of exoplanets with the SGL.

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“…We now focus on solving Maxwell's equations on the solar system's background set by gravity and plasma. We rely heavily on [18,21,24] (that were inspired by [38,39]), which the reader is advised to consult first.…”

Section: B Maxwell's Equations In Three-dimensional Formmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We consider the first post-Newtonian approximation of the general theory of relativity, presented in a harmonic gauge [22,23]. We use a generic model for the electron number density in the solar corona, used in [5,6,10,11] (using the geometric optics approximation) and in [20,24] (using a wave-optical treatment), which extended the results of [25] to the case of a free electron plasma distribution representing the solar corona and the interplanetary medium in the solar system. Here we take a further step and study light propagation on the combined background of the post-Newtonian monopole gravitational field and the solar plasma distribution, thereby extending the results of our earlier work on the SGL [18,20,21,25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%