Letter: Bounds on the Deficit Solid Angle Parameter from Solar System Tests

We analyze the Mercury perihelion precession, the bending of starlight, and the radar echo delay in the Schwarzschild field modified by the presence of a solid angle deficit. By using the experimental data we obtain that the parameter characterizing the solid angle deficit is less than 10^–9, 10^–8 and 10^–9, respectively, on the length scales associated with such phenomena. In particular, if the solid angle deficit is generated by a global monopole, it is shown that within the length scales associated with such phenomena, the observational data available constrain the monopole energy scale to lower bounds which are in considerable agreement with the limits derived from grand unified theory and cosmology.