In galaxy-galaxy strong gravitational lensing, Einstein rings are generated when the lensing galaxy has an axisymmetric lensing potential and the source galaxy is aligned with its symmetry centre along the line of sight. Using a Taylor expansion around the Einstein radius and eliminating the unknown source, I derive a set of analytic equations that determine differences of the deflection angle of the perturber weighted by the convergence of the axisymmetric lens and ratios of the convergences at the positions of the arcs from the measurable thickness of the arcs. In the same manner, asymmetries in the brightness distributions along an arc determine differences in the deflection angle of the perturber if the source has a symmetric brightness profile and is oriented parallel to or orthogonal to the caustic. These equations are the only model-independent information retrievable from observations to leading order in the Taylor expansion. General constraints on the derivatives of the perturbing lens are derived such that the perturbation does not change the number of critical curves. To infer physical properties such as the mass of the perturber or its position, models need to be inserted. The same conclusions about the scale of detectable masses (of the order of 10 8 M ) and model-dependent degeneracies as in other approaches are then found and supported by analysing B1938+666 as an example. Yet, the model-independent equations show that there is a fundamental degeneracy between the main lens and the perturber that can only be broken if their relative position is known. This explains the degeneracies between lens models already found in simulations from a more general viewpoint. Hence, apart from the radii and brightness distributions of the arcs, independent information on the axisymmetric lens or the perturber has to be employed to disentangle the axisymmetric lens and the perturber. Depending on the properties of the pertuber, this degeneracy can be broken by characterising the surrounding of the lens or by measuring the time delay between quasar images embedded in the perturbed Einstein ring of the host galaxy.

We develop a new approach to extracting model-independent information from observations of strong gravitational lenses. The approach is based on the generic properties of images near the fold and cusp catastrophes in caustics and critical curves. The observables we used are the relative image positions, the magnification ratios and ellipticities of extended images, and time delays between images with temporally varying intensity. We show how these observables constrain derivatives and ratios of derivatives of the lensing potential near a critical curve. Based on these measured properties of the lensing potential, classes of parametric lens models can then easily be restricted to the parameter values that are compatible with the measurements, thus allowing fast scans of a large variety of models. Applying our approach to a representative galaxy (JVAS B1422+231) and a galaxy-cluster lens (MACS J1149.5+2223), we show which model-independent information can be extracted in each case and demonstrate that the parameters obtained by our approach for known parametric lens models agree well with those found by detailed model fitting.

We extend our model-independent approach for characterising strong gravitational lenses to its most general form to leading order and use the orientation angles of a set of multiple images with respect to their connection line(s) in addition to the relative distances between the images, their ellipticities, and time-delays. For two symmetric images that straddle the critical curve, the orientation angle additionally allows us to determine the slope of the critical curve and a second (reduced) flexion coefficient at the critical point on the connection line between the images. It also allows us to drop the symmetry assumption that the axis of largest image extension is orthogonal to the critical curve. For three images almost forming a giant arc, the degree of assumed image symmetry is also reduced to the most general case, describing image configurations for which the source need not be placed on the symmetry axis of the two folds that unite at the cusp. For a given set of multiple images, we set limits on the applicability of our approach, show which information can be obtained in cases of merging images, and analyse the accuracy achievable due to the Taylor expansion of the lensing potential for the fold case on a galaxy cluster scale Navarro-Frenk-White-profile, a fold and cusp case on a galaxy cluster scale singular isothermal ellipse, and compare the generalised approach with our previously published one. The position of the critical points is reconstructed with less than 5 deviation for multiple images closer to the critical points than 30% of the (effective) Einstein radius. The slope of the critical curve at a fold and its shape in the vicinity of a cusp deviate less than 20% from the true values for distances of the images to the critical points less than 15% of the (effective) Einstein radius.

With upcoming (continuum) surveys of high-resolution radio telescopes, detection rates of fast radio bursts (FRBs) might approach 10 5 per sky per day by future extremely large observatories, such as the possible extension of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) to a phase 2 array. Depending on the redshift distribution of FRBs and using the repeating FRB121102 as a model, we calculate a detection rate of multiply-imaged FRBs with their multiply-imaged hosts caused by the distribution of galaxy-cluster scale gravitational lenses of the order of 10 −4 per square degree per year for a minimum total flux of the host of 10 µJy at 1.4 GHz for SKA phase 2. Our comparison of estimated detection rates for quasars, supernovae, gamma ray bursts, and FRBs shows that multiple images of FRBs could be more numerous than those of gamma ray bursts and supernovae and as numerous as multiple images of quasars. Time delays between the multiple images of an FRB break degeneracies in model-based and model-independent lens reconstructions as other time-varying sources do, yet without a microlensing bias as FRBs are more point-like and have shorter duration times. We estimate the relative imprecision of FRB time-delay measurements to be 10 −10 for time delays on the order of 100 days for galaxy-cluster scale lenses, yielding more precise (local) lens properties than time delays from the other time-varying sources. Using the lens modelling software Grale, we show the increase in accuracy and precision of the reconstructed scaled surface mass density map of a simulated cluster-scale lens when adding time delays for one set of multiple images to the set of observational constraints.