Mercury's Orbital Precession Anomaly

AI Thread Summary
Mercury's perihelion precesses by 5600 arc-seconds per century, exceeding Newtonian predictions by 43 arc-seconds. Albert Einstein addressed this anomaly with a second-order correction derived from his general theory of relativity. The discussion highlights the specific equation used for calculating this correction, which involves integrating over Mercury's orbit while accounting for relativistic effects. Although the exact equation was referenced, the poster noted potential minor errors due to not having the source material available. This anomaly and its resolution are significant in demonstrating the predictive power of general relativity.
Bjarne
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The perihelion of Mercury precesses by 5600 arc-seconds per century, which is 43 arc-seconds per century more than Newtonian physics alone would predict

Albert Einstein proposed a second-order correction to Mercury's orbit, based on his general theory of relativity.

Which equation had Einstein used to calculate this?
 
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The equation one gets from the analysis is, I believe (lifted from Hartle):
\Delta \phi = 2 l \int_{r_1}^{r_2}\frac{dr}{r^2}\left(1-\frac{2GM}{r c^2}\right)^{-1/2}\left[c^2 e^2 \left(1-\frac{2GM}{r c^2}\right)^{-1} - \left(c^2 + \frac{l^2}{r^2}\right)\right]^{-1/2}
I don't have the book in front of me though so there might be small errors.
One can expand this to get a definite answer neglecting higher order corrections, but I don't have that equation in front of me.
 
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