International Journal of Science, Engineering and TechnologyAuthors: C. Jayavant Kamesh
Abstract: Dark matter, though invisible to electromagnetic observations, reveals its presence through gravitational effects on visible matter and radiation. One of the most powerful methods for detecting and mapping dark matter is gravitational lensing—the bending of light from distant sources by massive foreground structures. This phenomenon, predicted by General Relativity, allows astronomers to infer the distribution and abundance of dark matter independent of its particle properties. Both strong lensing, which produces arcs and multiple images, and weak lensing, which induces subtle distortions in galaxy shapes, provide critical insights into dark matter halos on galactic and cosmological scales. By analyzing lensing signals across large surveys, researchers can reconstruct mass distributions, test cosmological models, and constrain the role of dark matter in structure formation. Gravitational lensing thus serves as a cornerstone technique for probing the nature and behavior of dark matter in the universe.
