{
  "abstract": "Extreme mass ratio inspirals on inclined orbits can produce recurrent electromagnetic flares by shocking gas at accretion-disk crossings. Using forward ray tracing in Kerr spacetime, we investigate how self-lensing by the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) reshapes these flares. Flares emitted behind the SMBH can be strongly magnified, whereas near-side flares remain almost unmagnified, producing strong-weak alternation even for identical intrinsic emission. As Lense-Thirring precession shifts the crossing azimuths, it generates long-term amplitude envelopes whose spacing can be used to infer the precession period. Lense-Thirring precession can also increase the cumulative geometric lensing probability over longer observing windows. Within individual flares, Keplerian motion of hotspots co-rotating with the disk produces time-dependent magnification, which can generate shoulders or double peaks and change the effective width. We also propose a spectral diagnostic to distinguish self-lensing from external lensing when their light curves are similar: self-lensing can amplify later, cooler emission and produce a softer secondary peak, whereas delayed images from a static external lens repeat the same intrinsic spectral evolution.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2611.02645",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Ruwen Zhou"
    },
    {
      "name": "Zhen Pan"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/czz04rvq4dxjn.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2611.02645",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "czz04rvq4dxjn",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.02645",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.HE"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2611.02645",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-02",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/czz04rvq4dxjn.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T12:20:59Z",
      "native_id": "2611.02645",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.02645"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.HE",
      "subfield": "high-energy-astrophysics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Self-lensing of electromagnetic counterparts to extreme mass ratio inspirals",
  "title_text": "Self-lensing of electromagnetic counterparts to extreme mass ratio inspirals",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-05T15:20:18Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/czz04rvq4dxjn",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}