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Combining the way that massive galaxies and galaxy clusters bend space and magnify our view of the distant universe with powerful new instruments sensitive to gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation will lead to scientific breakthroughs in fundamental physics, cosmology, and astrophysics, a new study reveals.

Discovering and studying gravitationally lensed explosions using multiple types of signals (multi-messenger gravitational lensing) will help to answer big questions about the history and structure of the universe.

their findings in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Â鶹ÒùÔºical and Engineering Sciences, an international team led by scientists at the University of Birmingham, notes challenges such as pinpointing the exact locations of these lensed explosions and coordinating observations and analysis across numerous different scientific communities.

The researchers call for closer inter-disciplinary collaboration, including better data sharing, new analysis methods, and detailed simulations to overcome these hurdles.

Professor Graham Smith, from the University of Birmingham, commented, "Recent advances in detector technology mean we can now observe these cosmic events across a huge range of energies and signals, from radio waves to gamma rays and gravitational waves.

"This innovative approach promises to deliver significant scientific breakthroughs over the next 5–10 years—allowing us to explore big questions such as the true nature of gravity, how fast the universe is expanding, the properties of dark matter, and how compact objects like black holes and neutron stars form and evolve."

Multi-messenger gravitational lensing involves the use of messengers spanning 30 orders of magnitude in energy from high-energy neutrinos to gravitational waves, and powerful survey facilities capable of continually scanning the sky for transient and variable sources.

The technique can magnify and duplicate signals from distant sources, letting scientists test theories of gravity over vast distances and improve measurements of the universe's expansion. It also opens new ways to study the physics of distant explosions and learn about how different phenomena, such as fast radio bursts and gamma-ray bursts, might relate to the same underlying events that are viewed in different ways.

Scientists are likely to focus on discoveries and science that are feasible over the next decade with current and imminent technology, including the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA network of gravitational wave detectors, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and contemporary gamma/X-ray satellites and radio surveys.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) is due to begin in late 2025 and will be a game-changer for multi-messenger gravitational lensing. The Rubin team and their international partners are gearing up for a "first look" event this summer, to showcase the early test images of the night sky that have been obtained with their Simonyi Survey Telescope.

"Multi-messenger gravitational lensing marks a significant milestone in physics and astronomy," added Professor Smith. "Reaching this point has been an international community effort that includes many early career researchers—creating lots of exciting future opportunities. By bringing together all these talented people, we can drive innovations and discoveries that will transform our understanding of the universe in the coming years."

Dr. Gavin Lamb, from Liverpool John Moores University, commented, "This is an ambitious vision of future science that will be revealed as our detectors get more sensitive. Something that was a novel side-thought 5 or 10 years ago is now the foundation for our next generation scientists."

Helena Ubach, a postgraduate researcher at the Universitat de Barcelona's Institut de Ciències del Cosmos, added, "I'm very excited to have had the opportunity to be part of this, and am looking forward to advances in the emerging field of multi-messenger gravitational lensing in the near future."