2024/12/21 by Fabiano Feleppa, V. Bozza, Feleppa, Fabiano +3 · 6 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #Relativity and Gravitational Theory
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2412.16712
openalex publication_date 2024/12/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Near a gravitating compact object, massive particles traveling along timelike geodesics are gravitationally deflected similarly to light. In this paper, we study the deflection angles of these particles in the strong deflection limit. This analytical approximation applies when particles in unbound orbits approach the compact object very closely, circle around it at a radius close to that of the unstable circular orbit, and eventually escape. While previous studies have provided results for particular metrics, we offer a general solution applicable to any static, spherically symmetric and asymptotically flat spacetime. After briefly reviewing the exact expression for the deflection angle of massive particles, we present a strong deflection limit analysis for this general case. The developed formulas are then applied to three particular metrics: Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordström and Janis-Newman-Winicour.