Three-dimensional wave optics for weak-field lensing of gravitational waves

Abstract

We develop a perturbative Green's function approach to gravitational lensing by weak gravitational potentials that need not be localized on a thin lens plane and that applies in both the wave optics and geometric optics regimes. We recast position-space integrals as Fourier, or momentum-space, integrals that appear in scattering amplitude calculations. The method gives the Born approximation directly in three dimensions and can be systematically extended to post-Born orders. For a Schwarzschild lens, we compute the leading Born term and new post-Born contributions arising from the order $\mathcal{O}(G^2)$ correction to the potential, keeping finite-distance corrections beyond the usual paraxial expansion. We show that these general-relativistic corrections are controlled by the parameter $GMω\,b/χ_{\rm eff}$ in the small-angle regime, and are therefore negligible for standard weak-lensing configurations but become relevant in more extreme geometries (such as hierarchical triples with very small source--lens separations). We also discuss higher-order Newtonian corrections, their infrared sensitivity for a long-range potential, and the regulated form of the Newtonian potential given by the Yukawa potential. Finally, we formulate the corresponding calculation in an FLRW background, identifying the leading flat-space limit and estimating the size of curvature-induced corrections including tails. This method clarifies the regime of validity of the Born, large-distance, and paraxial approximations in gravitational-wave lensing and provides a framework for treating generic lensing potentials.