Image-plane Analysis of n-Point-mass Lens Critical Curves and Caustics
Daněk, K.; Heyrovský, D.
The interpretation of gravitational microlensing events caused by planetary systems or multiple stars is based on the n-point-mass lens model. The first planets detected by microlensing were well described by the two-point-mass model of a star with one planet. By the end of 2014, four events involving three-point-mass lenses had been announced. Two of the lenses were stars with two planetary companions each; two were binary stars with a planet orbiting one component. While the two-point-mass model is well understood, the same cannot be said for lenses with three or more components. Even the range of possible critical-curve topologies and caustic geometries of the three-point-mass lens remains unknown. In this paper we provide new tools for mapping the critical-curve topology and caustic cusp number in the parameter space of n-point-mass lenses. We perform our analysis in the image plane of the lens. We show that all contours of the Jacobian are critical curves of re-scaled versions of the lens configuration. Utilizing this property further, we introduce the cusp curve to identify cusp-image positions on all contours simultaneously. In order to track cusp-number changes in caustic metamorphoses, we define the morph curve, which pinpoints the positions of metamorphosis-point images along the cusp curve. We demonstrate the usage of both curves on simple two- and three-point-mass lens examples. For the three simplest caustic metamorphoses we illustrate the local structure of the image and source planes.
type: | article |
journal: | The Astrophysical Journal |
volume: | 806 |
pages: | 63 |
year: | 2015 |
eprint: | arxiv:1501.02722 |
link: |
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/806/1/63
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grants: | Gravitational microlensing caustics and extended sources, GAČR P209/10/1318; 2010-2014; hlavní řešitel: David HeyrovskýAktuální problémy teoretické fyziky, astronomie a astrofyziky; 2014; vedoucí: doc. Oldřich Semerák |