Correction term to Newtons gravitation law

In summary, there is a correction term to Newton's law of gravitation when taking general relativity into account, known as the perturbation force. This term accounts for small masses and corrects for orbital precession, but does not account for the deflection of light by gravity or black hole modeling. The Einstein-Infeld-Hoffmann Hamiltonian, found in various textbooks and papers, explains this correction term in detail. However, it involves advanced concepts such as tensor calculus. For experiments, it is more practical to focus on Newton's law of gravitation rather than trying to measure this correction term.
  • #1
Kurret
143
0
Hey!
My teacher told me that there is a correction term to Newtons law of gravitation when you take general relativity into account, somthing lik:

[itex]
F=G\frac{M_1M_2}{r^2}+F_{correction}
[/itex]
I been searching like mad but can't find it on the internet anywhere. The only things I found was a set of insane differential equations and a lot of tensor notation, which is too advanced for me to convert to a force equation. Anyone know what my teacher means?

thanks in advance!
 
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  • #2
I'm sure one could come up with a one of limited applicability--call it a 'perturbation force', for small masses and correct for orbital precession such as the Sun acting on the orbit of Mercury.

If you had such a corrective force in hand, it would fail to account for the deflection of light by gravity and fail to model black holes.
 
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  • #3
Yea, I only need to approximate the correction terms magnitude to see if if an experiment i will do is good enough to measure it (i guess not), but it gets kind of hard when I don't know the real formula for it/dont know any general relativity...
 
  • #4
In every textbook you can find the non-relativistic limit of the Einstein equations. It's just a matter of taking into account second order effects, I would say. But I can't remember where these kind of calculations are done in detail.
 
  • #5
This is called the Einstein-Infeld-Hoffmann Hamiltonian. The original paper is

A. Einstein, L. Infeld, B. Hoffmann, "The Gravitational Equations and the Problem of Motion",
Ann. Math., 39 (1938), 65.

You can also find it in section 106 of

L. Landau, E. Lifgarbagez, "Course of theoretical physics, Volume 2, Field theory"

Eugene.
 
  • #6
haushofer said:
In every textbook you can find the non-relativistic limit of the Einstein equations. It's just a matter of taking into account second order effects, I would say. But I can't remember where these kind of calculations are done in detail.

I think you're right, if you mean second order terms in the pertubation of the Minkowski metric. Now, can you explain this to Kurret without using tensor calculus? :uhh:
 
  • #7
meopemuk said:
This is called the Einstein-Infeld-Hoffmann Hamiltonian. The original paper is

A. Einstein, L. Infeld, B. Hoffmann, "The Gravitational Equations and the Problem of Motion",
Ann. Math., 39 (1938), 65.

You can also find it in section 106 of

L. Landau, E. Lifgarbagez, "Course of theoretical physics, Volume 2, Field theory"

Eugene.
Cool, i will check my library. You don't happen to have an internet source?

Phrak said:
I think you're right, if you mean second order terms in the pertubation of the Minkowski metric. Now, can you explain this to Kurret without using tensor calculus? :uhh:
that woudl be great :|
altough i don't really need the explanation, just the final expression for force interaction between two bodies...
 
  • #8
Kurret said:
...although i don't really need the explanation, just the final expression for force interaction between two bodies...

Can you describe your intended experimental setup?
 
  • #10
OK then. Your first challenge is to get Netwon. Worry about Einstein much later.
 
  • #11
Phrak said:
OK then. Your first challenge is to get Netwon. Worry about Einstein much later.
Yea I know, i doubt my teacher really meant that I should try to measure that term, since he said that a value of G differing with maybe 20% should be considered a success. I think he just wanted me to think through if it was possible to measure that therm with the equipment available, and I believe the answer will be no but I still have to motivate it.
 
  • #12
The concept is summarized (but not derived) in section 10.2 of IERS Technical Note #32 entitled "Equations of Motion for an Artificial Earth Satellite." Here is a link to chapter 10 of that note:
http://www.iers.org/nn_11216/SharedDocs/Publikationen/EN/IERS/Publications/tn/TechnNote32/tn32__104,templateId=raw,property=publicationFile.pdf/tn32_104.pdf

For more on the topic (a whole lot more; 121 pages) see http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0403068.
 
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1. What is the correction term to Newton's gravitation law?

The correction term to Newton's gravitation law is a mathematical adjustment that is added to the original law proposed by Sir Isaac Newton in his theory of gravity. It accounts for deviations observed in the orbits of planets and other celestial bodies.

2. Why is there a need for a correction term?

The need for a correction term arises from the fact that Newton's law of gravitation, while accurate for most situations, does not fully explain the observed motions of objects in space. This is particularly evident in the motion of planets, which deviate from their predicted orbits due to the influence of other celestial bodies and the effects of relativity.

3. How is the correction term calculated?

The correction term is calculated using advanced mathematical equations, taking into account the mass and distance of the interacting bodies, as well as other factors such as the eccentricity of the orbit and the speed of light.

4. Does the correction term affect the overall accuracy of Newton's law?

Yes, the correction term significantly improves the accuracy of Newton's law of gravitation, especially when applied to objects with large masses and high velocities. Without it, the predicted orbits of planets would deviate significantly from their observed paths.

5. Are there any alternative theories to the correction term?

Yes, there are alternative theories that attempt to explain the deviations observed in Newton's law of gravitation without the use of a correction term. These include Einstein's theory of general relativity and modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). However, the correction term remains the most widely accepted explanation for the observed discrepancies in planetary orbits.

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