Eddington

Solar Eclipse Light Deflection (1919)

Standard Interpretation

Purpose:

To test Einstein’s prediction from General Relativity that light is deflected by gravity, specifically as it passes near a massive body like the Sun.

Method:

Photographs of stars near the Sun were taken during a total solar eclipse. The apparent positions of these stars were compared to their positions when the Sun was not in the same field of view (i.e., night sky observations).

Result:

• Stars appeared slightly displaced away from the Sun, consistent with Einstein’s predicted deflection:

   

where: θ = angular deflection of starlight (in radians). G = gravitational constant, M = mass of the deflecting body (e.g., the Sun), c = speed of light in vacuum, b = impact parameter (closest approach distance to mass).

• The amount of bending was twice what Newtonian gravity predicted, confirming Einstein’s theory.

Conventional Conclusion:

The results supported General Relativity’s view that space-time is curved by mass-energy, and that light follows this curvature, appearing to bend around massive objects.

Charge Admittance (CA) Reinterpretation

CA Principles Relevant Here:

• Energy in Mass Alters Lattice Response – Bound energy in mass distorts local charge lattice admittance.
• Gradient in Lattice Impedance Guides EM Propagation – Light travels not in “straight lines” through space, but along minima in admittance gradients, akin to refraction.
• Deflection is a Lattice-Optical Effect – Light bending emerges from a refractive-like interaction with a structured medium whose impedance varies with energy density.

CA interpretation:

• Why Light Appears to Bend:
• The Sun’s energy alters the surrounding lattice impedance, forming a gradient in the effective refractive index.
• EM waves follow paths of least impedance delay, bending similarly to light in a gradient-index optical fiber.
• The observed deflection is not due to space-time curvature but to anisotropic propagation speeds induced by the energy field around the Sun.
• The bending magnitude matches GR because both frameworks describe the same empirical gradient, but CA attributes it to material dynamics, not geometry.
• Analogy:
• Think of the Sun as creating a radially varying dielectric medium—light curves the way it would near a glass lens, not because space is curved, but because the vacuum’s properties are modulated by energy.

How CA Challenges or Extends GR View

• Challenges:
• Discards the need for geometric curvature of space-time.
• Replaces geodesic deviation with impedance-guided wave propagation in a structured vacuum.
• Validates/Extends:
• Retains the quantitative prediction: deflection angle δθ = 4GM/c²b
• Opens up testable implications for non-gravitational lensing effects, such as light bending near high-field or energy-dense electromagnetic systems.

Implications for Further Research

• Experimental Predictions:
• Artificially engineered lattice impedance gradients (e.g., using EM field configurations or Casimir cavities) may reproduce similar bending effects on light.
• In high-energy astrophysical environments (e.g., magnetars), CA predicts additional or differential bending beyond GR due to non-gravitational admittance variation.
• Observational Consequences:
• Deviations in lensing patterns (e.g., weak lensing maps of galaxy clusters) could signal CA-specific lattice effects, especially where mass-energy distributions are asymmetric.
• Suggests possibility of tunable lensing in lab-scale experiments by manipulating local vacuum conditions—offering a radically new form of vacuum optics.