arXiv subjects

Kai Liao

Publications and source records attributed to Kai Liao.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

Exploring black holes with multiple photon spheres by interferometric signatures

In this paper, we investigate the interferometric signatures of hairy Schwarzschild black holes (hSBHs) that have either single or double photon spheres. Our interest mainly stems from two considerations: (i) the photon ring structure in black hole images produces strong and universal interferometric signatures on long baselines, enabling precision measurements of black hole parameters and testing gravitational theory; (ii) the hSBH describes the deformation of standard Schwarzschild black hole (SBH) induced by additional sources, and they can feature double photon spheres within certain parameter regimes. Using both analytical and numerical methods, we find that for a hSBH with a single photon sphere, the complex visibility amplitude of the image exhibits damped oscillations. A similar behavior appears in the double photon sphere case when the inner photon sphere has lower effective potential than the outer one, as the photons near the inner photon sphere remain trapped by gravity. However, when the inner potential is higher, a beat pattern rises. Our findings reveal that the complex visibility amplitude can encode the signature of the photon sphere structure of the central black hole.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

HST Confirms Sub-5 kpc Dual Quasar Pairs at Cosmic Noon

During cosmic noon ($z\sim1-3$), when both star formation and black hole growth peaked, galaxy mergers are predicted to trigger dual active galactic nuclei (AGN) that eventually coalesce as supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. However, observations of dual quasars with sub-5 kpc separations-the critical phase preceding final coalescence-have remained challenging due to angular resolution limitations. We present the discovery and confirmation of two sub-arcsecond dual quasars at $z>1$, selected from 59,025 SDSS quasars, which fall within the footprint of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Survey. Using high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging and slitless spectroscopy, we confirmed SDSS J1625+4309 ($z=1.647$, separation 0.55"/4.7 kpc) and SDSS J0229$-$0514 ($z=3.174$, separation 0.42"/3.2 kpc), probing the sub-5 kpc separation regime. Through novel combination of WFC3/IR direct imaging (F140W) and grism spectroscopy (G141), we resolve both components morphologically and spectroscopically confirm their dual nature via detection of H$β$+[OIII] and MgII emission lines in each nucleus. Two-dimensional image decomposition reveals distinct host galaxy morphologies: J1625+4309 shows an extended, disturbed structure ($R_e$=4.7 kpc) indicative of an ongoing major merger, while J0229$-$0514 exhibits a compact host ($R_e$=1.4 kpc) suggesting an advanced coalescence stage. Black hole mass estimates based on virial relations yield M$_{\mathrm{BH}} \sim 10^{8.1}-10^{8.7} M_\odot$ with line-of-sight velocity offsets of $(0.7\pm0.1)\times10^{3}$ km s$^{-1}$ and $(1.0\pm0.2)\times10^{3}$ km s$^{-1}$, respectively. These confirmations directly constrain the frequency and properties of close dual quasars, opening new avenues for studying SMBH mergers at cosmic noon.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Constraints on Compact Dark Matter Population from Micro-lensing Effect of Gravitational Wave for the third-generation gravitational Wave Detector

Since the pioneering detection of gravitational wave (GW) from a binary black hole merger by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration, GW has become a powerful probe for astrophysics and cosmology. If compact dark matter (DM) candidates, e.g. primordial black holes, contribute a substantial fraction of the DM component across a broad mass range, they would yield distinctive micro-lensing signatures on GW signals. In this paper, based on the third-generation ground-based GW detector, i.e. Einstein Telescope, we propose to constrain population information of compact DM by simulating micro-lensing GWs and analyzing with the hierarchical Bayesian inference framework. For a population with a power-law mass function, we demonstrate that detections of several micro-lensing GW signals in $10^4$ binary black holes coalescence events would constrain the abundance of compact DM to $\sim10^{-3}$. It suggests that searching for and identifying micro-lensing signatures in future detections could be complementary and helpful in constraining compact DM scenarios.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Detecting dark matter substructure with lensed quasars in optical bands

Flux ratios of multiple images in strong gravitational lensing systems provide a powerful probe of dark matter substructure. Optical flux ratios of lensed quasars are typically affected by stellar microlensing, and thus studies of dark matter substructure often rely on emission regions that are sufficiently extended to avoid microlensing effects. To expand the accessible wavelength range for studying dark matter substructure through flux ratios and to reduce reliance on specific instruments, we confront the challenges posed by microlensing and propose a method to detect dark matter substructure using optical flux ratios of lensed quasars. We select 100 strong lensing systems consisting of 90 doubles and 10 quads to represent the overall population and adopt the Kolmogorov--Smirnov (KS) test as our statistical method. By introducing different types of dark matter substructure into these strong lensing systems, we demonstrate that using quads alone provides the strongest constraints on dark matter and that several tens to a few hundred independent flux ratio measurements from quads can be used to study the properties of dark matter substructure and place constraints on dark matter parameters. Furthermore, we suggest that the use of multi-band flux ratios can substantially reduce the required number of quads. Such sample sizes will be readily available from ongoing and upcoming wide-field surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Identifying Microlensing by Compact Dark Matter through Diffraction Patterns in Gravitational Waves with Machine Learning

Gravitational wave lensing, particularly microlensing by compact dark matter (DM), offers a unique avenue to probe the nature of dark matter. However, conventional detection methods are often computationally expensive, inefficient, and sensitive to waveform systematics. In this work, we introduce the Wavelet Convolution Detector (WCD), a deep learning framework specifically designed to identify wave-optics diffraction patterns imprinted in gravitationally lensed signals. The WCD integrates multi-scale wavelet analysis within residual convolutional blocks to efficiently extract time-frequency interference structures, and is trained on a realistically generated dataset incorporating compact DM mass functions and astrophysical lensing probabilities. This work is the first machine learning-based approach capable of identifying such wave-optics signatures in lensed gravitational waves. Tested on simulated binary black hole events, the model achieves 92.2\% accuracy (AUC=0.965), with performance rising to AUC$\sim$0.99 at high SNR. Crucially, it maintains high discriminative power across a wide range of lens masses without retraining, demonstrating particular strength in the low-impact-parameter and high-lens-mass regimes where wave-optics effects are most pronounced. Compared to Bayesian inference, the WCD provides orders-of-magnitude faster inference, making it a scalable and efficient tool for discovering compact DM through lensed gravitational waves in the era of third-generation detectors.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Identification of Strongly Lensed Gravitational Wave Events Using Squeeze-and-Excitation Multilayer Perceptron Data-efficient Image Transformer

With the advancement of third-generation gravitational wave detectors, the identification of strongly lensed gravitational wave (GW) events is expected to play an increasingly vital role in cosmology and fundamental physics. However, traditional Bayesian inference methods suffer from combinatorial computational overhead as the number of events grows, making real-time analysis infeasible. To address this, we propose a deep learning model named Squeeze-and-Excitation Multilayer Perceptron Data-efficient Image Transformer (SEMD), based on Vision Transformers, which classifies strongly lensed GW events by modeling morphological similarity between time-frequency spectrogram pairs. By integrating Squeeze-and-Excitation attention mechanisms and multilayer perceptrons , SEMD achieves strong feature extraction and discrimination. Trained and evaluated on simulated datasets using Advanced LIGO and Einstein Telescope noise, the model demonstrates robustness and generalization across different detector sensitivities and physical conditions, highlighting the promise of deep learning for rapid identification of strongly lensed GW signals.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Probing stellar-mass primordial black holes with type Ia supernova microlensing

Gravitationally lensed quasars have served as a powerful tool for studying the composition of dark matter (DM) in lensing galaxies. In this work, we propose a novel method to investigate stellar-mass primordial black holes (PBHs) by using the microlensing effect of strongly lensed Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Using the parameters of the lensed quasar system PG 1115+80, such as convergence, shear, and stellar/dark matter fractions, we generate microlensing magnification maps. A uniform brightness disk model is applied to these maps to evaluate the microlensing amplitude at different stages of the supernova explosion. We extend this analysis by employing the strong lensing parameters derived from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) to create extensive image datasets of lensed SNe Ia. Utilizing these datasets and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test, we compare two models: (1) the fiducial model, where galaxies are composed of stars and smooth DM, and (2) the alternative model, where galaxies consist of stars and compact DM, specifically PBHs. Our preliminary analysis predicts that at least 60 image datasets are required to distinguish these two scenarios at a 95 percent confidence level. Additionally, by incorporating the Strong Lensing Halo model-based mock catalogs (SL-Hammocks), which provide more realistic and precise image data, we refine our prediction to assess the data requirements for distinguishing cases where PBHs constitute fractions x of the total dark matter mass. Our findings indicate that 50, 55, and 65 image datasets, corresponding to compact dark matter fractions of 100 percent, 50 percent, and 25 percent (denoted by x), are necessary to distinguish between the specific models.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Characteristic precessions of spherical orbit around a rotating braneworld black hole

We study the orbital dynamics and relativistic precession effects in the spacetime of rotating braneworld black holes within the Randall-Sundrum framework. For test particles on spherical orbits, we analyze three conserved quantities-energy, angular momentum, and Carter constant-and examine how the innermost stable spherical orbit depends on the tidal charge and orbital inclination. Compared to Kerr black holes, braneworld corrections significantly modify both nodal and periastron precession frequencies: positive tidal charges suppress precession rates, while negative charges enhance them. For stationary gyroscopes, we calculate the Lense-Thirring precession frequency and demonstrate its sensitivity to the tidal charge, black hole spin, and gyroscope orientation. Our results show that a positive tidal charge weakens frame-dragging effects even as it enhances gravitational attraction-offering a distinctive signature of extra-dimensional gravity. These results have important implications for astrophysical observations, including accretion disk behavior, stellar orbital dynamics, and gravitational wave detection. The modified orbital and gyroscopic precession provide new ways to test braneworld gravity in strong-field regimes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Lensed fast radio bursts as a probe of time-varying gravitational potential induced by wave dark matter

Ultralight bosonic wave dark matter (DM) is preponderantly contesting the conventional cold DM paradigm in predicting diverse and rich phenomena on small scales. For a DM halo made of ultralight bosons, the wave interference naturally induces slow de Broglie time-scale fluctuations of the gravitational potential. In this paper, we first derive an estimation for the effect of a time-varying gravitational potential on photon propagation. Our numerical simulations suggest that the time-varying potential of a $10^{11}M_{\odot}$ halo composed of $10^{-22}\,\mathrm{eV}$ bosons would stretch or compress a time series signal by a factor of $10^{-10}$. Here, we propose that, due to the precise measurements of their arrival times, lensed repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) have the potential to effectively validate temporal variations in gravitational potential by monitoring their images over a period of approximately $\mathcal{O}(1)$ years. With rapidly growing FRB observations, this method would serve as a promising method to directly probe the wave nature of galactic DM halos.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Distinguishing black holes with and without spontaneous scalarization in Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet theories via optical features

Spontaneous scalarization in Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet theory admits both vacuum-general relativity (GR) and scalarized hairy black holes as valid solutions, which provides a distinctive signature of new physics in strong gravity regime. In this paper, we shall examine the optical features of Gauss-Bonnet black holes with spontaneous scalarization, which is governed by the coupling parameter $λ$. We find that the photon sphere, critical impact parameter and innermost stable circular orbit all decrease as the increasing of $λ$. Using observable data from Event Horizon Telescope, we establish the upper limit for $λ$. Then we construct the optical appearances of the scalarized black holes illuminated by various thin accretions. Our findings reveal that the scalarized black holes consistently exhibit smaller shadow sizes and reduced brightness compared to Schwarzschild black holes. Notably, in the case of thin spherical accretion, the shadow of the scalarized black hole is smaller, but the surrounding bright ring is more pronounced. Our results highlight the observable features of the scalarized black holes, providing a distinguishable probe from their counterpart in GR in strong gravity regime.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Time Delay Anomalies of Fuzzy Gravitational Lenses

Fuzzy dark matter is a promising alternative to the standard cold dark matter. It has quite recently been noticed, that they can not only successfully explain the large-scale structure in the Universe, but can also solve problems of position and flux anomalies in galaxy strong lensing systems. In this paper we focus on the perturbation of time delays in strong lensing systems caused by fuzzy dark matter, thus making an important extension of previous works. We select a specific system HS 0810+2554 for the study of time delay anomalies. Then, based on the nature of the fuzzy dark matter fluctuations, we obtain theoretical relationship between the magnitude of the perturbation caused by fuzzy dark matter, its content in the galaxy, and its de Broglie wavelength $λ_{\mathrm{dB}}$. It turns out that, the perturbation of strong lensing time delays due to fuzzy dark matter quantified as standard deviation is $σ_{Δt} \propto λ_{\mathrm{dB}}^{1.5}$. We also verify our results through simulations. Relatively strong fuzzy dark matter fluctuations in a lensing galaxy make it possible to to destroy the topological structure of the lens system and change the arrival order between the saddle point and the minimum point in the time delays surface. Finally, we stress the unique opportunity for studying properties of fuzzy dark matter created by possible precise time delay measurements from strongly lensed transients like fast radio bursts, supernovae or gravitational wave signals.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Determining Cosmological-model-independent $H_0$ with Gravitationally Lensed Supernova Refsdal

{The reappearance of supernova Refsdal with detailed modeling of the lens cluster allows us to measure the time-delay distance,} which serves as a powerful tool to determine the Hubble constant ($H_0$). We give a cosmological-model-independent method to estimate $H_0$ through Gaussian process regression, using time-delay measurements from this lensed supernova in combination with supernova data from the Pantheon+ sample. {Using eight mass models for the lens cluster,} we infer $H_0 = 64.2^{+4.4}_{-4.3} \, \rm{km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}}$ and using two cluster models most consistent with the observations, we infer $H_0 = 66.3^{+3.8}_{-3.6} \, \rm{km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}}$. Our estimates of the value of $H_0$ are in $1σ$ agreement with the results assuming a flat $Λ$CDM model and the uncertainties are comparable. Our constraint results on $H_0$ from the eight lens models and the two lens models indicate $2σ$ and $1.8σ$ tensions with that estimated by Supernova H0 for the Equation of State, respectively. However, our median values of $H_0$ from the two sets of lens models show good consistency with $H_0$ inferred from Planck cosmic microwave background observations assuming $Λ$CDM model within $1σ$. We also find that our results for $H_0$ indicate $2σ$ deviations and $1.7σ$ deviations from the constraint results of $H_0$ using six time-delay quasars by H0LiCOW with the same analysis method.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

A robust test of general relativity at the galactic scales by combining strong lensing systems and gravitational wave standard sirens

The measurement of the parametrized post-Newtonian parameter $γ_{\rm{PPN}}$ is a robust test of general relativity (GR). In some modified theories of gravity, $γ_{\rm{PPN}}$ may evolve with the redshift and deviate from one at high redshifts. This means that precise constraints on $γ_{\rm{PPN}}$ acquired in the solar system experiments could not be sufficient to test such theories and it is necessary to constrain $γ_{\rm{PPN}}$with high precision at high redshifts. However, in many approaches aimed at extragalactic tests of GR, the results might be biased due to entanglement of various factors, such as cosmic curvature, cosmic opacity, and the Hubble constant. Strong lensing systems naturally provide a laboratory to test $γ_{\rm{PPN}}$ at galactic scales and high redshifts, but there is degeneracy between measured strength of gravity and cosmic distances in the lensing system. Gravitational waves (GWs) from binary neutron star mergers (standard sirens) provide a direct way to break this degeneracy by providing self-calibrated measurements of the luminosity distance. {We investigate the possibility of estimating $γ_{\rm{PPN}}$ by combining well measured strongly lensed systems with GW signals from coalescing neutron stars. Such combination provides a cosmological-model independent, relatively pure and unbiased method for the inference of $γ_{\rm{PPN}}$ parameter, avoiding the influence of the above factors and the mass-sheet degeneracy in the lens.} Based on the simulated future 55 lensed quasar systems we demonstrated that the precision of $γ_{\rm{PPN}}$ parameter obtained by our method could be of order of $\sim 10^{-2}$. One may reasonably expect that our approach will play an increasingly important role in precise testing the validity of general relativity at galactic scales and high redshifts.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

A Model-independent Method to Determine $H_0$ Using Time-Delay Lensing, Quasars and Type Ia Supernovae

Absolute distances from strong lensing can anchor Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) at cosmological distances giving a model-independent inference of the Hubble constant ($H_0$). Future observations could provide strong lensing time-delay distances with source redshifts up to $z\,\simeq\,4$, which are much higher than the maximum redshift of SNe Ia observed so far. In order to make full use of time-delay distances measured at higher redshifts, we use quasars as a complementary cosmic probe to measure cosmological distances at redshifts beyond those of SNe Ia and provide a model-independent method to determine $H_0$. In this work, we demonstrate a model-independent, joint constraint of SNe Ia, quasars, and time-delay distances from strong lensed quasars. We first generate mock data sets of SNe Ia, quasar, and time-delay distances based on a fiducial cosmological model. Then, we calibrate the quasar parameters model independently using Gaussian process (GP) regression with mock SNe Ia data. Finally, we determine the value of $H_0$ model-independently using GP regression from mock quasars and time-delay distances from strong lensing systems. As a comparison, we also show the $H_0$ results obtained from mock SNe Ia in combination with time-delay lensing systems whose redshifts overlap with SNe Ia. Our results show that quasars at higher redshifts show great potential to extend the redshift coverage of SNe Ia and thus enable the full use of strong lens time-delay distance measurements from ongoing cosmic surveys and improve the accuracy of the estimation of $H_0$ from $2.1\%$ to $1.3\%$ when the uncertainties of the time-delay distances are $5\%$ of the distance values.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Hunting Galactic Axion Dark Matter with Gravitationally Lensed Fast Radio Bursts

Ultralight axion or axionlike particles are one of the most promising candidates for dark matter because they are a well-motivated solution for the theoretical strong $CP$ problem and observational issues on small scales, i.e. the core-cusp problem and the satellite problem. A tiny coupling of axions and photons induces birefringence. We propose the differential birefringence measurements of multiple images of gravitationally lensed fast radio burst (FRB) systems as probes of the Galactic axion dark matter (ADM) background. In addition to general advantages of lensing systems, i.e. alleviating systematics and intrinsic astrophysical dependencies, precise measurements of lensing time delay and polarization angle in gravitationally lensed FRB systems make them a more robust and powerful probe. We show that, with a single lensed FRB system (which may be detected in large numbers in the SKA era), the axion-photon coupling under the ADM background could be constrained to be $g_{aγ} < 7.3 \times 10^{-11}~ \mathrm{GeV^{-1}}$ for an axion mass $m_a\sim10^{-20}~\mathrm{eV}$. This will be of great significance in achieving synergistic searches of the Galactic ADM with other astrophysical probes and laboratorial experiments.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Identifying Strongly Lensed Gravitational Waves with the Third-generation Detectors

The joint detection of GW signals by a network of instruments will increase the detecting ability of faint and far GW signals with higher signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), which could improve the ability of detecting the lensed GWs as well, especially for the 3rd generation detectors, e.g. Einstein Telescope (ET) and Cosmic Explorer (CE). However, identifying Strongly Lensed Gravitational Waves (SLGWs) is still challenging. We focus on the identification ability of 3G detectors in this article. We predict and analyze the SNR distribution of SLGW signals and prove only 50.6\% of SLGW pairs detected by ET alone can be identified by Lens Bayes factor (LBF), which is a popular method at present to identify SLGWs. For SLGW pairs detected by CE\&ET network, owing to the superior spatial resolution, this number rises to 87.3\%. Moreover, we get an approximate analytical relation between SNR and LBF. We give clear SNR limits to identify SLGWs and estimate the expected yearly detection rates of galaxy-scale lensed GWs that can get identified with 3G detector network.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

Determining cosmological-model-independent $H_0$ and post-Newtonian parameter with time-delay lenses and supernovae

Strong gravitational lensing provides a natural opportunity to test General Relativity (GR). We propose a model-independent method for simultaneous constraining on Hubble constant ($H_0$) and post-Newtonian parameter (${γ_{\rm{PPN}}}$) using strong lensing systems and observational SNe Ia. The time-delay measurements from strong lesning can directly determine the Hubble constant, and the lens distance inferred from the spectroscopic measurement of the stellar kinematics of the deflector galaxy can help us to constrain the post-Newtonian parameter. We seek the Pantheon dataset and reconstruct unanchored distances using Gaussian process regression to achieve the cosmological model-independent GR testing instead of assuming a specific model, which can reduce possible bias on GR testing and measurement of Hubble constant. Combining the reconstructed unanchored distances and the four H0LiCOW lenses datasets, our results are $H_0=72.9^{+2.0}_{-2.3} {\mathrm{~km~s^{-1}~Mpc^{-1}}}$ and ${γ_{\rm{PPN}}}=0.89^{+0.17}_{-0.15}$. All the lenses show that there is no obvious evidence to support GR deviation within observational uncertainties. In the subsequent analysis, we consider a ratio of distance ${D_{Δt}}/{D^{'}_{d}}$ method to further avoid the influence of $H_0$ on GR testing. The results show that, except J1206 within the $\sim1.2σ$ observational uncertainty, the remaining 3 lenses support GR holds within the $1σ$ observational uncertainties.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Harnessing Unresolved Lensed Quasars: The Mathematical Foundation of the Fluctuation Curve

Strong gravitational lensed quasars (QSOs) have emerged as powerful and novel cosmic probes as they can deliver crucial cosmological information, such as a measurement of the Hubble constant, independent of other probes. Although the upcoming LSST survey is expected to discover $10^3-10^4$ lensed QSOs, a large fraction will remain unresolved due to seeing. The stochastic nature of the quasar intrinsic flux makes it challenging to identify lensed ones and measure the time delays using unresolved light curve data only. In this regard, Bag et al (2022) introduced a data-driven technique based on the minimization of the fluctuation in the reconstructed image light curves. In this article, we delve deeper into the mathematical foundation of this approach. We show that the lensing signal in the fluctuation curve is dominated by the auto-correlation function (ACF) of the derivative of the joint light curve. This explains why the fluctuation curve enables the detection of the lensed QSOs only using the joint light curve, without making assumptions about QSO flux variability, nor requiring any additional information. We show that the ACF of the derivative of the joint light curve is more reliable than the ACF of the joint light curve itself because intrinsic quasar flux variability shows significant auto-correlation up to a few hundred days (as they follow a red power spectrum). In addition, we show that the minimization of fluctuation approach provides even better precision and recall as compared to the ACF of the derivative of the joint light curve when the data have significant observational noise.

astro-ph.CO↗