Electrodynamic Reinterpretation of Solar Light Deflection via Charge-Induced Polarization of the Near-Solar Medium

Solar light deflection, measured as 1.75′′ during the 1919 eclipse and traditionally interpreted as evidence of spacetime curvature, can be reformulated within an electrodynamic framework. Following the hypothesis developed in Star Winds [19], the Sun carries a small but finite global charge: Q⊙=1020 C , consistent with a universal charge-to-mass ratio Q/M=α. This minute imbalance (≈ 10−18 fractional neutrality) polarizes the coronal plasma[2,14] and nearby vacuum, producing a spatially varying refractive index n(r). Photons remain neutral and move rectilinearly in vacuum[4-6,17], creating a non-uniform refractive index n(r). Photons, which remain strictly neutral [1], travel rectilinearly in vacuum but follow least-time trajectories in this charge-polarized medium, producing an optical deflection that matches the observed 1.75′′. In this formulation, the gravitational constant G emerges as: G=keα revealing that Newtonian dynamics may be an effective manifestation of deeper electrodynamic structure. This optical mechanism reproduces all observational results without invoking space-time curvature.