Gravitational lensing time delay beyond the Shapiro/geometry split

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Teodori, Luca, Blum, Kfir, Bai, Zhaoyu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Teodori, Luca
Blum, Kfir
Bai, Zhaoyu
author_facet Teodori, Luca
Blum, Kfir
Bai, Zhaoyu
contents Time delays are a key observable in strong gravitational lensing systems. Their theoretical expression is usually written as a sum of a geometrical delay and a Shapiro delay, with cosmology entering through angular diameter distances and a redshift prefactor. In this work we derive this structure from the exact null geodesics of the Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric. The standard formula is recovered as the leading term in a small-angle expansion, and we identify the first correction to the usual geometrical-plus-Shapiro split. Such correction does not introduce any new cosmological dependence: it corresponds instead to a higher-order correction intrinsic to the Schwarzschild part of the metric. As a consequence, up to this order, the cosmological constant enters only through the unlensed angular diameter distances and the unlensed lens-redshift prefactor.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_18182
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Gravitational lensing time delay beyond the Shapiro/geometry split
Teodori, Luca
Blum, Kfir
Bai, Zhaoyu
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Time delays are a key observable in strong gravitational lensing systems. Their theoretical expression is usually written as a sum of a geometrical delay and a Shapiro delay, with cosmology entering through angular diameter distances and a redshift prefactor. In this work we derive this structure from the exact null geodesics of the Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric. The standard formula is recovered as the leading term in a small-angle expansion, and we identify the first correction to the usual geometrical-plus-Shapiro split. Such correction does not introduce any new cosmological dependence: it corresponds instead to a higher-order correction intrinsic to the Schwarzschild part of the metric. As a consequence, up to this order, the cosmological constant enters only through the unlensed angular diameter distances and the unlensed lens-redshift prefactor.
title Gravitational lensing time delay beyond the Shapiro/geometry split
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.18182