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How does hybrid gravity bend light and shift planetary orbits?

Gustavo Melgarejo, Santiago Esteban Perez Bergliaffa

May 21, 2026

Hybrid metric-Palatini gravity blends two different geometric descriptions of curvature into a single function, propagating the usual graviton plus two massive scalar fields. Working directly from the field equations — no shortcuts — the authors derive the gravitational potential (standard Newtonian plus two Yukawa correction terms) and the light-bending parameter, then use Solar System planetary precession data to constrain the scalar masses. The constraints spell out exactly when this theory is indistinguishable from Einstein's and when it isn't.
Published as Another Look at the Weak-Field Limit of Generalized Hybrid Metric-Palatini Gravity arXiv:2605.22801
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