New perturbative method for solving the gravitational N-body problem in the general theory of relativity

DOI10.1142/S021827181550039XMaRDI QIDQ2943434zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Slava G. Turyshev, Viktor T. Toth

Publication date 3 September 2015

Published in International Journal of Modern Physics D (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1304.8122

zbMATH Keywords

\(N\)-body problemgeneral theory of relativitypost-Newtonian approximationrelativistic reference frames

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

(n)-body problems (70F10) Celestial mechanics (70F15) Einstein's equations (general structure, canonical formalism, Cauchy problems) (83C05) Equations of motion in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C10) Classes of solutions; algebraically special solutions, metrics with symmetries for problems in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C20) Approximation procedures, weak fields in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C25) Galactic and stellar dynamics (85A05)

Abstract: We present a new approach to describe the dynamics of an isolated, gravitationally bound astronomical $N$-body system in the weak field and slow-motion approximation of the general theory of relativity. Celestial bodies are described using an arbitrary energy-momentum tensor and assumed to possess any number of internal multipole moments. The solution of the gravitational field equations in any reference frame is presented as a sum of three terms: i) the inertial flat spacetime in that frame, ii) unperturbed solutions for each body in the system that is covariantly transformed to the coordinates of this frame, and iii) the gravitational interaction term. We use the harmonic gauge conditions that allow reconstruction of a significant part of the structure of the post-Galilean coordinate transformation functions relating global coordinates of the inertial reference frame to the local coordinates of the non-inertial frame associated with a particular body. The remaining parts of these functions are determined from dynamical conditions, obtained by constructing the relativistic proper reference frame associated with a particular body. In this frame, the effect of external forces acting on the body is balanced by the fictitious frame-reaction force that is needed to keep the body at rest with respect to the frame, conserving its relativistic three-momentum. The resulting post-Galilean coordinate transformations have an approximate group structure that extends the Poincar'e group of global transformations to the case of accelerating observers in a gravitational field of $N$-body system. We present and discuss the structure of the metric tensors corresponding to the reference frames involved, the rules for transforming relativistic gravitational potentials, the coordinate transformations between frames and the resulting relativistic equations of motion.

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Cites work

• Accelerating relativistic reference frames in Minkowski space-time
• Celestial coordinate reference systems in curved space-time
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 49064 (Why is no real title available?)
• LUNAR LASER RANGING TESTS OF THE EQUIVALENCE PRINCIPLE WITH THE EARTH AND MOON
• Motion of extended bodies in the extended parametrized post-Newtonian formalism
• The confrontation between general relativity and experiment

Cited in

(10)

• The validity of the continuum limit in the gravitational N-body problem
• A mapping method for the gravitational few-body problem with dissipation
• On a new formulation of the many-body problem in general relativity
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 4155405 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 5184386 (Why is no real title available?)
• Celestial coordinate reference systems in curved space-time
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 895298 (Why is no real title available?)
• On Robe’s restricted problem with a modified Newtonian potential
• Can general relativity's \(N\)-body Lagrangian be obtained from iterative algebraic scaling equations? I: Exterior effacement
• Can general relativity's \(N\)-body Lagrangian be obtained from iterative algebraic scaling equations? II: Interior effacement and time dilation

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