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1412.6916
Gravitational lensing - Einstein's Unfinished Symphony
Treu, Ellis
Gravitational lensing - the deflection of light rays by gravitating matter - has become a major tool of modern cosmologist. Proposed nearly a hundred years ago as a key feature of Einstein's theory of GR, trace the historical development since its verification at a solar eclipse in 1919. Einstein was apparently cautious about its practical utility and the subject lay dormant observationally for nearly 60 years. Nonetheless there has been rapid progress over the past 20 years. The technique allows astronomers to chart the distribution of DM on large and small scales thereby testing predictions of the standard cosmological model which assumes DM comprises a massive weakly-interacting particle. By measuring distances and tracing the growth of DM structure over cosmic time, gravitational lensing also holds great promise in determining whether the DE, postulated to explain the accelerated cosmic expansion is a vacuum energy density or a failure of GR on large scales. Illustrate the wide range of applications which harness the power of gravitational lensing, from searches for the earliest galaxies magnified by massive clusters to those for extrasolar planets which temporarily brighten a background star. Summarize the future prospects with dedicated ground and space-based facilities designed to exploit this remarkable physical phenomenon.
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