The Instantaneous Redshift Difference of Gravitationally Lensed Images: Theory and Observational Prospects

Abstract

Due to the expansion of our Universe, the redshift of distant objects changes with time. Although the amplitude of this redshift drift is small, it will be measurable with a decade-long campaigns on the next generation of telescopes. Here we present an alternative view of the redshift drift which captures the expansion of the universe in single epoch observations of the multiple images of gravitationally lensed sources. Considering a sufficiently massive lens, with an associated time delay of order decades, simultaneous photons arriving at a detector would have been emitted decades earlier in one image compared to another, leading to an instantaneous redshift difference between the images. We also investigate the effect of peculiar velocities on the redshift difference in the observed images. Whilst still requiring the observational power of the next generation of telescopes and instruments, the advantage of such a single epoch detection over other redshift drift measurements is that it will be less susceptible to systematic effects that result from requiring instrument stability over decade-long campaigns.