Geodesic and path motion in the nonsymmetric gravitational theory (Q674979)

The authors follow Einstein and postulate that the four-velocity of a test-particle is parallel-transported along itself during its motion. The generalized path equation contains first integrals of the motion that reflect a symmetry in the background geometry. The first integrals are not always explicitly guaranteed to exist, leading to the question whether a conserved quantity is necessarily associated with every symmetry in the background geometry. The predicted motion is studied on a static, spherically symmetric background field, with particular attention paid to radial and circular motions. It is found that the proper time taken to travel between any two nonzero radial positions is finite and the circular orbits can be supported at lower radii than in general relativity for certain forms of motion. There are differences in the resulting motion in the strong-field regime, in particular for the case of circular motion. For the case of a static, spherically symmetric background field the difference between the geodesic and path equations in the weak-field regime is of higher order and can safely be neglected. Three interactions which could be used as alternate methods for coupling a test-particle to the antisymmetric components of the NGT field are presented. One of these takes the form of a Yukawa force in the weak-field limit of a static, spherically symmetric field, which could lead to an interesting phenomenology.