Gravitational lensing in modified Newtonian dynamics
File(s)0106100v1.pdf (525.1 KB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Mortlock, DJ
Turner, EL
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) is an alternative theory of gravity that aims to explain large-scale dynamics without recourse to any form of dark matter. However, the theory is incomplete, lacking a relativistic counterpart, and so makes no definite predictions about gravitational lensing. The most obvious form that MONDian lensing might take is that photons experience twice the deflection of massive particles moving at the speed of light, as in general relativity (GR). In such a theory there is no general thin-lens approximation (although one can be made for spherically symmetric deflectors), but the three-dimensional acceleration of photons is in the same direction as the relativistic acceleration would be. In regimes where the deflector can reasonably be approximated as a single point-mass (specifically low-optical depth microlensing and weak galaxy–galaxy lensing), this naive formulation is consistent with observations. Forthcoming galaxy–galaxy lensing data and the possibility of cosmological microlensing have the potential to distinguish unambiguously between GR and MOND. Some tests can also be performed with extended deflectors, for example by using surface brightness measurements of lens galaxies to model quasar lenses, although the breakdown of the thin-lens approximation allows an extra degree of freedom. None the less, it seems unlikely that simple ellipsoidal galaxies can satisfy both constraints. Furthermore, the low-density universe implied by MOND must be completely dominated by the cosmological constant (to fit microwave background observations), and such models are at odds with the low frequency of quasar lenses. These conflicts might be resolved by a fully consistent relativistic extension to MOND; the alternative is that MOND is not an accurate description of the Universe.
Date Issued
2001-10-21
Date Acceptance
2001-06-11
Citation
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2001, 327 (2), pp.557-566
ISSN
0035-8711
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page
557
End Page
566
Journal / Book Title
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume
327
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2001 Oxford University Press. This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Daniel J. Mortlock, Edwin L. Turner, Gravitational lensing in modified Newtonian dynamics, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 327, Issue 2, October 2001, Pages 557–566, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04774.x is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04774.x.
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000171693000023&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
acceleration of particles
gravitation
gravitational lensing
relativity
dark matter
DIGITAL SKY SURVEY
COLD DARK-MATTER
COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT
MASS-DISTRIBUTION
LOCAL GROUP
GALAXIES
RECONSTRUCTION
DEFLECTION
UNIVERSE
CLUSTERS
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2001-10-21