Interaction between light, spacetime and dark matter

[CuriousJR]

I'm a retiree with a technical background. I am interested in the interactions of light with spacetime and...maybe, dark matter. Unfortunately, I am bringing this curiosity forward without having taken the effort to read literature that may be available. So even guidance to get started on the background reading is of interest.

Considering the large scales of a sun or a galaxy, there is a large scale distortion (compared to the wavelength of light) in spacetime caused by their associated large masses.

Is the estimate of the effects of these large scale distortions on light well described by classical, geometric optics? For example, the "lensing effect" that we see demonstrated in many of the Hubble photos.

If so, then is the same optics used to describe the effect of a black hole on light...at a large distance from the black hole?

Thanks for the help getting started...

 

[Evo]

Welcome CuriousJR!

Please feel free to post your questions in the appropriate forums above! This is the introduction section.