Gravitational microlensing of gamma-ray burst afterglows by single and binary stars

Abstract

We calculate the magnification light curves caused by stellar microlensing of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. A GRB source appears on the sky as a thin ring that expands faster than the speed of light and is maximally magnified as it crosses the lens caustics. While a single-star lens produces a single peak in the magnification light curve, binary-star lenses may produce multiple peaks. The shape of the magnification light curve provides invaluable information on the surface brightness distribution of the afterglow photosphere on submicroarcsecond scales. We find that all afterglows are likely to show variability at the level of a few percent about a year following the explosion, caused by stars that are separated by tens of Einstein radii from their line of sight.