Strong field gravitational lensing in scalar-tensor theories

Strong field gravitational lensing in the Brans-Dicke scalar-tensor theory has been studied. The deflection angle for photons passing very close to the photon sphere is estimated for the static spherically symmetric spacetime of the theory and the position and magnification of the relativistic images are obtained. Modelling the super massive central object of the galaxy by the Brans-Dicke spacetime, numerical values of different strong lensing observables are estimated. It is found that against the expectation there is no significant scalar field effect on the strong field observable lensing parameters. This result raises question on the potentiality of strong field lensing to discriminate different gravitational theories.