Convergence and efficiency of different methods to compute the diffraction integral for gravitational lensing of gravitational waves
Xiao Guo, Youjun Lu
Abstract
Wave optics may need to be considered when studying the lensed waveforms of gravitational waves (GWs). However, the computation of the diffraction integral (amplification factor) in wave optics is challenging and time consuming. It is vital to develop an accurate and efficient method to calculate the amplification factor for detecting lensed GW systems. In this paper, we investigate the convergence of the diffraction integral for gravitational lensing of GWs and analyze the accuracy and efficiency of a number of numerical methods that can be used to calculate this integral, including the integral mean method, asymptotic expansion method, Levin's method, zero points integral method, etc. We further introduce a new method by combining the zero points integral and the asymptotic expansion methods to calculate the diffraction integral, which provides an efficient and accurate way to calculate the lensed waveform of GWs.