Singularities in Gravitational Lensing

Abstract

Image formation near point singularities in strong gravitational lensing is a less explored field as the number of such lensed systems is small. However, with the ongoing and upcoming surveys, the number of strong lens systems is expected to increase by more than several orders of magnitude. Hence, the probability of observation of strong lens systems with image formation near point singularities is also expected to increase. Thus, it is timely to explore these point singularities in strong lensing. In this thesis, we look at the various properties of point singularities and the possibility of their detection with upcoming facilities. We also study the effects of strong lensing and microlensing on the gravitational wave signals. The work reported in this thesis is as follows.