Gravitational lensing by using the 0th order of affine perturbation series of the deflection angle of a ray near a photon sphere

Abstract

The 0th order of affine perturbation series of the deflection angle of a ray near a photon sphere is more accurate than a deflection angle in a strong deflection limit, which is used often, because the later has hidden error terms. We investigate gravitational lensing by using 0th order affine perturbation series of the deflection angle in a general asymptotically-flat, static, and spherical symmetric spacetime with the photon sphere. We apply our formula to Schwarzschild black hole, Reissner–Nordström black hole, and Ellis–Bronnikov wormhole spacetimes as examples. By comparing observables by using the deflection angles, we show that we can ignore the effect of the hidden error terms in the the deflection angle in the strong deflection limit on the observables in a usual lens configuration with the photon sphere since the hidden error terms are tiny. On the other hand, in a retro lensing configuration, the deflection angle in the strong-deflection-limit analysis have error of several percent and the 0th order of affine perturbation series of the deflection angle has almost half of the error. Thus, in the retro lensing configuration, we should use the 0th order of affine perturbation series of the deflection angle rather than the deflection angle in the strong-deflection-limit analysis. The 0th order of affine perturbation series of the deflection angle can give a brighter magnification by a dozen percent than the one by using the deflection angle in the strong-deflection-limit analysis.