Gravitational Lensing of Gravitational Waves: Spin-wave Optics through Black Hole Scattering

Gravitational-wave (GW) scattering in strong gravitational fields is a central problem in GW lensing. Yet, conventional treatments based on asymptotic expansions suffer from divergences and become unreliable near the optical axis. In this work, we present a rigorous calculation of GW scattering by a Schwarzschild black hole (BH) within the BH perturbation theory. By placing the observer at a finite distance and abandoning the asymptotic expansion of radial wave functions, we obtain a well-convergent partial-wave description without invoking any regularization scheme, thereby naturally resolving the divergences of the partial-wave series and the Poisson spot. We numerically computed the scattered GW waveforms by reconstructing the physical $+$ and $\times$ polarizations from the master variables, revealing the formation of the Poisson spot and pronounced wavefront distortions. A systematic comparison with conventional asymptotic approaches shows that they reproduce only qualitative features at large scattering angles and fail in the forward-scattering region. We further compare the frequency-domain transmission factors derived from the scattering formalism with those obtained from the Kirchhoff diffraction integral, finding significant discrepancies at high frequencies due to the latter’s neglect of long-range gravitational effects and polarization evolution. Our results establish a stable and physically transparent framework for GW scattering in strong-field regimes and provide a solid foundation for accurate modeling of GW lensing beyond standard approximations.