Effects of microlensing on parameters of the images seen near the critical curves of gravitational lens galaxies

We investigate the effect of microlensing on parameters of the images of distant sources seen near the critical curves of complex gravitational lenses, which are represented as a sum of compact structures—microlenses (stars, star-like or planet-like bodies) and diffusely distributed matter (dust and gas clouds etc.). The observation of merging, cross-shaped, annular, or arc-shaped source images is an indication that the images are close to the critical curves of gravitational lenses. Our analysis and numerical solution have allowed us to determine the structures of the critical curves and caustics formed by macro-and microlenses, as well as to estimate the characteristic perturbations introduced by microlenses at their various positions relative to the critical curve of a regular gravitational lens. We show that, the closer are the microlenses to the critical curve, the larger is the discrepancy between our results and those obtained previously with standard (linearized) allowance for the effect of a regular gravitational lens.