A relativistic gravity train

DOI10.1007/S10714-017-2267-YzbMATH Open1397.83016arXiv1704.04026OpenAlexW3103169996MaRDI QIDQ1787939FDOQ1787939

Authors: Edward Parker 

Publication date: 5 October 2018

Published in: General Relativity and Gravitation (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: A nonrelativistic particle released from rest at the edge of a ball of uniform charge density or mass density oscillates with simple harmonic motion. We consider the relativistic generalizations of these situations where the particle can attain speeds arbitrarily close to the speed of light; generalizing the electrostatic and gravitational cases requires special and general relativity, respectively. We find exact closed-form relations between the position, proper time, and coordinate time in both cases, and find that they are no longer harmonic, with oscillation periods that depend on the amplitude. In the highly relativistic limit of both cases, the particle spends almost all of its proper time near the turning points, but almost all of the coordinate time moving through the bulk of the ball. Buchdahl's theorem imposes nontrivial constraints on the general-relativistic case, as a ball of given density can only attain a finite maximum radius before collapsing into a black hole. This article is intended to be pedagogical, and should be accessible to those who have taken an undergraduate course in general relativity.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1704.04026

Recommendations

• The relativistic gravity train
• Gravitational orbits in one dimension
• Periodic solutions of the relativistic harmonic oscillator
• On the mechanical analogy between the relativistic evolution of a spherical dust universe and the classical motion of falling bodies
• The clock paradox in a static homogeneous gravitational field

zbMATH Keywords

exact solutionsideal fluidBuchdahl's theoremrelativistic gravity train

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Equations of motion in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C10) Exact solutions to problems in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C15) Macroscopic interaction of the gravitational field with matter (hydrodynamics, etc.) (83C55)

Cites Work

• Title not available (Why is that?)
• General Relativistic Fluid Spheres
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Spacetime and geometry. An introduction to general relativity
• An introduction to mechanics.
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• A new relativistic extension of the harmonic oscillator satisfying an isochronicity principle

Cited In (5)

• Radiation of relativistic ‘harmonic’ oscillator
• A fresh look at the concept of a relativistic oscillator
• Higher Fano manifolds and rational surfaces
• Riemannian manifolds dual to static spacetimes
• The relativistic gravity train

This page was built for publication: A relativistic gravity train

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q1787939)