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  • © 1992

Gravitational Lenses

Part of the book series: Astronomy and Astrophysics Library (AAL)

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages I-XIII
  2. Introduction

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 1-24
  3. Basic facts and the observational situation

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 25-90
  4. Optics in curved spacetime

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 91-117
  5. Derivation of the lens equation

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 119-155
  6. Properties of the lens mapping

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 157-181
  7. Lensing near critical points

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 183-216
  8. Wave optics in gravitational lensing

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 217-227
  9. Simple lens models

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 229-280
  10. Multiple light deflection

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 281-293
  11. Numerical methods

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 295-308
  12. Statistical gravitational lensing: General considerations

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 309-369
  13. Statistical gravitational lensing: Applications

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 371-466
  14. Gravitational lenses as astrophysical tools

    • Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers, Emilio E. Falco
    Pages 467-515
  15. Back Matter

    Pages 517-560

About this book

The theory, observations, and applications ofgravitational lensingconstitute one ofthe most rapidly growing branches ofextragalactic astrophysics. The deflection of light from very distant sources by intervening masses provides a unique possibility for the investigation of both background sources and lens mass distributions. Gravitational lensing manifestsitselfmost distinctly through multiply imaged QSOs and the formation of highly elongated im­ ages of distant galaxies ('arcs') and spectacular ring-like images of extra­ galactic radio sources. But the effects of gravitational light deflection are not limited to these prominent image configurations; more subtle, since not directly observable, consequences of lensing are the, possibly strong, mag­ nification of sources, which may permit observation of intrinsically fainter, or more distant, sources than would be visible without these natural tele­ scopes. Such light deflection can also affect the source counts of QSOs and of other compact extragalactic sources, and can lead to flux variability of sources owing to propagation effects. Trying to summarizethe theory and observationalstatus ofgravitational lensing in a monograph turned out to be a bigger problem than any of the authors anticipated when we started this project at the end of 1987, encour­ aged by Martin Harwit, who originally approached us. The development in the field has been very rapid during the last four years, both through the­ ory and through observation, and many sections have been rewritten several times, as the previous versions became out of date.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Garching, Fed. Rep. of Germany

    Peter Schneider, Jürgen Ehlers

  • Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, USA

    Emilio E. Falco

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access