2024/03/13 by M. Wright, Justin Janquart, Wright, Mick +3
Physics and Astronomy · #Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) #History and Developments in Astronomy #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2403.08957
openalex publication_date 2024/03/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
As the gravitational wave detector network is upgraded and the sensitivity of the detectors improves, novel scientific avenues open for exploration. For example, tests of general relativity will become more accurate as smaller deviations can be probed. Additionally, the detection of lensed gravitational waves becomes more likely. However, these new avenues could also interact with each other, and a gravitational wave event presenting deviations from general relativity could be mistaken for a lensed one. Here, we explore how phenomenological deviations from general relativity or binaries of exotic compact objects could impact those lensing searches focusing on a single event. We consider strong lensing, millilensing, and microlensing and find that certain phenomenological deviations from general relativity may be mistaken for all of these types of lensing. Therefore, our study shows that future candidate lensing events would need to be carefully examined to avoid a false claim of lensing where instead a deviation from general relativity has been seen.