Probing the dark matter issue in f(R)-gravity via gravitational lensing

Understand

For a general class of analytic f(R)-gravity theories, we discuss the weak field limit in view of gravitational lensing.

• Though an additional Yukawa term in the gravitational potential modifies dynamics with respect to the standard Newtonian limit of General Relativity, the motion of massless particles results unaffected thanks to suitable cancellations in the post-Newtonian limit.
• Thus, all the lensing observables are equal to the ones known from General Relativity.
• Since f(R)-gravity is claimed, among other things, to be a possible solution to overcome for the need of dark matter in virialized systems, we discuss the impact of our results on the dynamical and gravitational lensing analyses.