Simulation of microlensing lightcurves by combining contouring and rayshooting

Abstract

The contouring methods described by Lewis et al. (1993) and Witt (1993) are very efficient and elegant for obtaining the magnification of a point source moving along a straight track in the source plane. The method is, however, not very efficient for extended sources, because the amplification needs to be computed for numerous parallel tracks and then convolved with the source profile. Rayshooting is an efficient algorithm for relatively large sources, but the computing time increases with the inverse of the source area for a given noise level. This poster presents a hybrid method, using the contouring method in order to find only those parts of the lens area that contribute to the light curve through the rayshooting. Calculations show that this method has the potential to be $10$--$10^5$ times more efficient than crude rayshooting techniques.