Abstract
Several times, we have run into problems where analytical methods are no longer sufficient to analyze a GL system. Our “standard” problem is the inversion of the lens equation, i.e., to find all the images x for a given source position y. Only in the simplest cases can this be done analytically; in general, one must find all the roots of a two-dimensional system of equations. This is not trivial, in particular because the number of solutions is not known a priori. There are other problems where numerical analysis must be applied, e.g., if one wants to determine the total magnification for an extended source, as a function of its position. This problem is computationally simpler than the standard problem.
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© 1992 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
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Schneider, P., Ehlers, J., Falco, E.E. (1992). Numerical methods. In: Gravitational Lenses. Astronomy and Astrophysics Library. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2756-4_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2756-4_10
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7655-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-2756-4
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