Light deflection in Weyl gravity: constraints on the linear parameter

Abstract

Light deflection offers an unbiased test of Weyl's gravity since no assumption on the conformal factor needs to be made. In this second paper of our series ‘light deflection in Weyl gravity’, we analyse the constraints imposed by light deflection experiments on the linear parameter of Weyl's theory. Regarding solar system experiments, the recent CASSINI Doppler measurements are used to infer an upper bound, ∼10−19 m−1, on the absolute value of the above Weyl parameter. In non-solar system experiments, a condition for unbound orbits together with gravitational mirage observations enables us to further constrain the allowed negative range of the Weyl parameter to ∼−10−31 m−1. We show that the characteristics of the light curve in microlensing or gravitational mirages, deduced from the lens equation, cannot be recast into the general relativistic predictions by a simple rescaling of the deflector mass or of the ring radius. However, the corrective factor, which depends on the Weyl parameter value and on the lensing configuration, is small, even perhaps negligible, owing to the upper bound inferred on the absolute value of a negative Weyl parameter. A statistical study on observed lensing systems is required to settle the question. Our Weyl parameter range is more reliable than the single value derived by Mannheim and Kazanas from fits to galactic rotation curves, ∼+10−26 m−1. Indeed, the latter, although consistent with our bounds, is biased by the choice of a specific conformal factor.