Time-Dependent Black Hole Lensing and the Unified Weak-to-Strong Deflection Framework

Abstract: We present a fully analytical framework that unifies weak-field and strong-deflection lensing of light in a time-dependent, perturbed Schwarzschild spacetime. The spacetime dynamics are modeled by a single, axisymmetric, even-parity quasinormal mode with $\ell=2$, $m=0$ and complex frequency $\omega$. Working to first order in a small perturbation amplitude while keeping background null geodesics exact, we derive a time-dependent line-of-sight (Born) expression for the screen-plane deflection measured by a static observer at large radius. From the same integral, an asymptotic expansion yields the familiar weak-field $1/b$ law with a ringdown-frequency correction that drives a harmonic centroid wobble, whereas a near-photon-sphere expansion produces a time-dependent generalization of the logarithmic strong-deflection limit with modulated coefficients, including a small oscillation of the critical impact parameter. An observer tetrad built from the background static frame ensures that all screen-plane quantities like centroid motion, multi-image hierarchy, and time delays, and photon-ring morphology are gauge-safe at first order. We provide explicit matching across regimes, showing that the near-critical coefficients governing spacing and ring-radius modulations are encoded in the same Born kernel that controls the weak-field correction. The result is a coherent, purely theoretical account of how ringdown physics imprints on imaging observables without numerical ray tracing.