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At least 559 records · Page 31

Improved Einzel lenses

New insulator configuration simplifies construction of three-electrode electrostatic electron lenses in which center electrode is at high electrical potential. Spherical sapphire insulators are used in lieu of conventional tubular ceramic or plastic insulators in Einzel lens assembly.

Hart, R. K.↗

Focal properties of geodesic waveguide lenses

The focal properties of uncorrected geodesic lenses in ion-exchanged glass waveguides are reported. A 13.8-mm-focal-length lens resolved beams with an angular separation of 27.6 mrad, while a 28-mm-focal-length lens resolved beams with an angular separation of only 3.3 mrad. Intensity profiles of the focal region of the former lens revealed a 40-micron spot size when the input aperture was 5 mm, and a spot size of 7.7 microns when the aperture was reduced to 1 mm. This value is close to the diffraction-limited spot size of 5.7 microns.

Verber, C. M.↗

Solar concentration by curved-base Fresnel lenses

The solar concentration performance of idealized curved base line focusing Fresnel lenses is analyzed. A simple optical model was introduced to study the effects of base curvature and lens f-number. Thin lens ray tracing and the laws of reflection and refraction are used to develop expression for lens transmittance and image plane intensity profiles. The intensity distribution over the solar spectrum, lens dispersion effects, and absorption by the lens material are included in the analysis. Model capabilities include assessment of lens performance in the presence of small transverse tracking errors and the sensitivity of solar image characteristics to focusing.

Cosby, R. M.↗

Gravitational lensing effects of vacuum strings - Exact solutions

Exact interior and exterior solutions to Einstein's field equations are derived for vacuum strings. The exterior solution for a uniform density vacuum string corresponds to a conical space while the interior solution is that of a spherical cap. For Mu equals 0-1/4 the external metric is ds-squared = -dt-squared + dr-squared + (1-4 Mu)-squared r-squared dphi-squared + dz-squared, where Mu is the mass per unit length in the string in Planck masses per Planck length. A maximum mass per unit length for a string is 6.73 x 10 to the 27th g/cm. It is shown that strings cause temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background and produce equal brightness double QSO images separated by up to several minutes of arc. Formulae for lensing probabilities, image splittings, and time delays are derived for strings in a realistic cosmological setting. String searches using ST, the VLA, and the COBE satellite are discussed.

Gott, J. R., III↗

Optimized three-dimensional lenses for wide-angle scanning

Three-dimensional bootlace lens antennas with two and four focal points can be optimized to produce high-quality scanned beams over a wide field of view. For two-dimensional scanning, the planar feed locus is replaced by a curved feed locus designed to minimize path length errors. Comparisons with previous bootlace lens designs demonstrate the advantages of this focal distribution. The bifocal lens shows good scanning performance in both principal and orthogonal planes. The quadrufocal lens performs better in its principal plane than in its orthogonal plane. It is also shown that the quadrufocal lens can be realized with a planar outer surface and a circular focal arc, and improved scanning performance is still achievable. Further optimization of the focal arc and/or relaxation of the planar outer surface condition results in quadrufocal lenses with negligible phase errors in the principal plane.

Rappaport, C. M.↗

Are some BL Lac objects artefacts of gravitational lensing?

It is proposed here that a significant fraction of BL Lac objects are optically violently variable quasars whose continuum emission has been greatly amplified, relative to the line emission, by pointlike gravitational lenses in intervening galaxies. Several anomalous physical and statistical properties of BL Lacs can be understood on the basis of this model, which is immediately testable on the basis of absorption line studies and by direct imaging.

Ostriker, J. P.↗

On the distance measure for gravitational lenses

A discussion is presented of some of the physical elements that are important for geometric optics in curved space-time, with a view toward interpreting data on gravitational lenses. This is important because each gravitational lens provides geometrical information about an arc that crosses a substantial portion of the universe. The propagation of photons along long arcs is highly sensitive to the mean density in the beam, averaged along the arc. Fluctuations about this mean are not important unless their scale is comparable to that of the universe. Tidal distortion is important if only a few lumps are involved. The variation in the geometrical optics is considerably greater if there is a nonzero cosmological constant.

Alcock, C.↗

Effect of gravitational lenses on the microwave background, and 1146+111B,C

A simple check of the proposal by Turner et al. (1986) that the pair of quasars 1146+111B,C are, in fact, two images of the same object lensed by an intervening object is suggested. If the lens is a cluster, either of normal galaxies or of dark matter, the microwave background seen through the cluster will be distorted by the Zeldovich-Sunyaev effect at the 0.001 level. The effects on the proposed check of the cluster not having the shape of an isothermal sphere, of containing no gas or only cold gas, and of having a low ratio of baryonic mass to total mass are considered.

Ostriker, J. P.↗

Gravitational lenses and particle properties

The potential of observations of gravitational lens systems for the determination of cosmological constants and for tests of the nature and distribution of dark matter is illustrated. The advantages and disadvantages of gravitational lenses as cosmological probes are evaluated.

Turner, Edwin L.↗

Point mass deflectors in gravitational lenses

The observed properties of the six systems generally accepted as gravitational lenses are compared with the properties predicted for the images of point-mass and distributed mass deflectors. Taken as a statistical distribution, the characteristics of the six known systems strongly suggest the existence of a super-massive black hole as the effective deflecting mass in one or more of these systems. If the deflecting mass in a gravitational lens is a black hole, the distance to the deflecting mass can be determined directly from the difference in light travel time along the separate image paths. (No direct solution for the distance to the deflecting mass exists when the deflecting mass is a galaxy or a cluster of galaxies). Geometric parallaxes of objects at 1000 Mpc distance are of obvious importance in a wide variety of cosmological studies.

Dolan, Joseph F.↗

Gravitational lenses and large scale structure

Four possible statistical tests of the large scale distribution of cosmic material are described. Each is based on gravitational lensing effects. The current observational status of these tests is also summarized.

Turner, Edwin L.↗

Analysis of spatially resolved IUE spectra of 0957+561A,B: A gravitationally lensed double quasar

A study of 18 IUE spectra of the gravitationally lensed quasar, 0957+561A,B was used to search for time delays between light variation in the 2 components. Evidence for substantial, rapid variability in Component A in 1980, followed by a light variation in the other component 20 months later is found. However, it is argued that these variations do not record the same event in the quasar, and so, cannot be used to derive a value for the Hubble constant. The cause of the rapid variation in Component A in 1980 is not understood, but it does not appear to be a microlensing event.

Altner, Bruce↗

Modeling of thermal lensing in side and end-pumped finite solid-state laser rods

An analytical expression for approximating the time-dependent thermal focal length in finite solid state laser rods was derived. The analysis is based on the temperature variation of the material refractive index caused by optical pumping of these rods. Several quantities were found to be relevant to this analysis. These quantities were the specific thermal profiles of the rods, type of optical pumping employed, type of cooling scheme employed (side and end-cooling parameters), and the specific material characteristics of the rods. The Thermal Lensing Model was formulated using the geometric ray tracing approach. The focal lengths are then approximated, by calculating the phase shift in the index of refraction, as the different rays of an incident plane wave are tracked through a lens-like crystal medium. The approach also applies in the case of Gaussian or parabolic pump beams. It is shown that the prediction of thermal focal length is in good quantitative agreement with experimentally obtained data.

Brackett, Vincent G.↗

Gravitational lensing by a smoothly variable three-dimensional mass distribution

A smooth three-dimensional mass distribution is approximated by a model with multiple thin screens, with surface mass density varying smoothly on each screen. It is found that 16 screens are sufficient for a good approximation of the three-dimensional distribution of matter. It is also found that in this multiscreen model the distribution of amplifications of single images is dominated by the convergence due to matter within the beam. The shear caused by matter outside the beam has no significant effect. This finding considerably simplifies the modeling of lensing by a smooth three-dimensional mass distribution by effectively reducing the problem to one dimension, as it is sufficient to know the mass distribution along a straight light ray.

Lee, Man Hoi↗

IUE observations of PG 1115 + 080 - The He I Gunn-Peterson test and a search for the lensing galaxy

Five observations of PG 1115 + 080 taken with the IUE SWP camera have been combined in order to carry out the He I Gunn-Peterson test and to search for a Lyman limit which could determine the redshift of the lens candidate reported by Christian et al. (1987). No Lyman-limit discontinuities are found, implying that the lensing galaxy does not intercept the line of sight or does not contain enough neutral hydrogen to be detected as a Lyman-limit edge. It is estimated that the lens column density for neutral hydrogen is 3 x 10 to the 16th/sq cm or less if it intercepts the line of sight.

Tripp, Todd M.↗