Gravitational Deflection of Light: A Heuristic Derivation at the Undergraduate Level

TL;DR

This paper offers an accessible heuristic derivation of the gravitational light deflection around the Sun, designed for undergraduate students unfamiliar with complex general relativity mathematics.

Contribution

It introduces a simplified, heuristic approach to derive the light deflection angle, making the concept more approachable for undergraduates.

Findings

The derivation accurately predicts the light deflection angle.

The method simplifies understanding of gravitational lensing.

It provides an educational tool for teaching general relativity concepts.

Abstract

In this paper, we present a new heuristic derivation of the gravitational deflection of light around the Sun at the undergraduate level. Instead of solving the geodesic equation directly, we compute the correct deflection angle by focusing on the acceleration term of null geodesics. Using this heuristic deviation, we expect that undergraduate students who have not learned general relativity will be able to experience this computation, which is one of the most remarkable evidences of general relativity.