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What was Einstein's theory that gravity bent light called?

Updated: 8/20/2019
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Gravitational Lensing Theory --

Light rays "bend" when they pass through a transparent material because they travel a bit slower inside the material. Is there any other way to "bend" light rays?

Yes! Gravity can alter the path of light rays, too. A black hole, after all, is simply an object with a gravitational field so strong that even photons are unable to escape from its vicinity. Any light ray which attempts to fly outwards from a black hole is stopped, and turned back into the black hole. That's an extreme case of "bending."

But there are more modest situations, in which the photon isn't stopped dead, but merely nudged a bit so that its direction (and energy) change slightly. For example, if we place a very massive object near the path of an incoming light ray:

The angle theta by which the light ray is deflected depends on two factors: its closest approach to the massive object (called the impact parameter, and denoted by b in the diagram), and the mass of the lensing object, M. As you might guess, it takes both a very massive lens, and a very close approach, to cause any significant deflection.

If an intervening mass lines up perfectly with a background source, it can bend the light from the source which would otherwise go far above us to come to us; and bend the light which would otherwise go far below us to come to us.

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Q: What was Einstein's theory that gravity bent light called?
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