Light Propagation in Inhomogeneous Universes. V. Gravitational Lensing of Distant Supernovae

Abstract

We use a series of ray-tracing experiments to determine the magnification distribution of high-redshift sources by gravitational lensing. We determine empirically the relation between magnification and redshift, for various cosmological models. We then use this relation to estimate the effect of lensing on the determination of the cosmological parameters from observations of high-z supernovae. We found that, for supernovae at redshifts z<1.8 the effect of lensing is negligible compared to the intrinsic uncertainty in the measurements. Using mock data in the range 1.8<z<8, we show that the effect of lensing can become significant. Hence, if a population of very-high-z supernovae was ever discovered, it would be crucial to fully understand the effect of lensing, before these SNe could be used to constrain cosmological models. We show that the distance moduli m-M for an open CDM universe and a LCDM universe are comparable at z>2. Therefore if supernovae up to these redshifts were ever discovered, it is still the ones in the range 0.3<z<1 that would distinguish these two models.

arXiv comment15 pages. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. References added

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• AzTEC millimeter survey of the COSMOS field - III. Source catalog over 0.72 sq. deg. and plausible boosting by large-scale structure
• A new stochastic approach to cumulative weak lensing
• Three Gravitationally Lensed Supernovae Behind CLASH Galaxy Clusters
• The Universe at extreme magnification
• Lensing and Supernovae: Quantifying The Bias on the Dark Energy Equation of State
• Consistent use of Type Ia supernovae highly magnified by galaxy clusters to constrain the cosmological parameters
• Dark energy constraints and correlations with systematics from CFHTLS weak lensing, SNLS supernovae Ia and WMAP5