Strong-deflection expansion of the deflection angle near a degenerate photon sphere

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Main Authors: Igata, Takahisa, Sasaki, Tadashi, Tsukamoto, Naoki
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866910215205552128
author Igata, Takahisa
Sasaki, Tadashi
Tsukamoto, Naoki
author_facet Igata, Takahisa
Sasaki, Tadashi
Tsukamoto, Naoki
contents We present a strong-deflection expansion for the deflection angle of light rays scattered near a degenerate photon sphere in asymptotically flat, static, and spherically symmetric spacetimes. Our prescription isolates the divergent contribution to the deflection-angle integral arising from the ray's passage near the marginal orbit in a way that remains well defined at marginality, thereby yielding a unique leading power-law term. When expressed in terms of the radius of closest approach, the leading coefficient in the strong deflection limit factorizes into a universal branch constant and a local factor determined by the third derivative of the effective potential at the degenerate photon sphere. Passing to the expansion in terms of the impact parameter then only multiplies the coefficient by an additional local conversion factor. We show that the local factor in the closest-approach expansion admits an invariant representation through the areal-radius derivative of a dimensionless tidal measure constructed from the electric part of the Weyl tensor. In general relativity, we further relate this quantity to the areal-radius derivative of a weighted null-energy density profile. Analytic examples validate this factorization and yield closed-form expressions for the leading divergent coefficients in representative marginal configurations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_08778
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Strong-deflection expansion of the deflection angle near a degenerate photon sphere
Igata, Takahisa
Sasaki, Tadashi
Tsukamoto, Naoki
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Theory
We present a strong-deflection expansion for the deflection angle of light rays scattered near a degenerate photon sphere in asymptotically flat, static, and spherically symmetric spacetimes. Our prescription isolates the divergent contribution to the deflection-angle integral arising from the ray's passage near the marginal orbit in a way that remains well defined at marginality, thereby yielding a unique leading power-law term. When expressed in terms of the radius of closest approach, the leading coefficient in the strong deflection limit factorizes into a universal branch constant and a local factor determined by the third derivative of the effective potential at the degenerate photon sphere. Passing to the expansion in terms of the impact parameter then only multiplies the coefficient by an additional local conversion factor. We show that the local factor in the closest-approach expansion admits an invariant representation through the areal-radius derivative of a dimensionless tidal measure constructed from the electric part of the Weyl tensor. In general relativity, we further relate this quantity to the areal-radius derivative of a weighted null-energy density profile. Analytic examples validate this factorization and yield closed-form expressions for the leading divergent coefficients in representative marginal configurations.
title Strong-deflection expansion of the deflection angle near a degenerate photon sphere
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.08778