Deflection angle and Shadows by Black Holes in Starobinsky-Bel-Robinson Gravity from M-theory

Motivated by M-theory compactifications, we investigate optical properties of black holes in the Starobinsky-Bel-Robinsion gravity. Precisely, we study the shadows and the deflection angle of light rays by non-rotating and rotating black holes in such a novel gravity. We start by discussing the shadows of the Schwarzschild-type solutions. As expected, we obtain perfect circular shadows where the size decreases with a stringy gravity parameter denoted by $\beta$. We show that this parameter is constrained by the shadow existence. Combining the Newman-Janis algorithm and the Hamilton-Jacobi mechanism, we examine the shadow behaviors of the rotating solutions in terms of one-dimensional real curves. Essentially, we find various sizes and shapes depending on the rotating parameter and the stringy gravity parameter $a$ and $\beta$, respectively. To inspect the shadow geometric deformations, we investigate the astronomical observables and the energy emission rate. As envisaged, we reveal that $a$ and $\beta$ have an impact on such shadow behaviors. For specific values of $a$, we remark that the obtained shadow shapes share certain similarities with the ones of the Kerr black holes in plasma backgrounds. Using the Event Horizon Telescope observational data, we provide predictions for the stringy gravity parameter $\beta$ which could play a relevant role in M-theory compactifications. We finish this work by a discussion on the behaviors of the light rays near to such four dimensional black holes by computing the deflection angle in terms of a required moduli space.