Orbital precession due to central-force perturbations
- Department of Physics, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17604 (United States)
We calculate the perifocus precession of Keplerian orbits under the influence of arbitrary central-force perturbations. Our result is in the form of a one-dimensional integral that is straightforward to evaluate numerically. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our formula for the case of the Yukawa potential. We obtain analytic results for potentials of the form V(r)={alpha}r{sup n} and V(r)={alpha}ln(r/{lambda}) in terms of the hypergeometric function {sub 2}F{sub 1}((1/2)-(n/2),1-(n/2);2;e{sup 2}), where e is the eccentricity. Our results reproduce the known general relativistic (n=-3), constant force (n=1), and cosmological constant (n=2) precession formulas. Planetary perihelion precessions are often used to constrain the sizes of hypothetical new weak forces--our results allow for more precise, and often stronger, constraints on such proposed new forces.
- OSTI ID:
- 21020331
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 75, Issue 8; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.75.082001; (c) 2007 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Perihelion precession from power law central force and magnetic-like force
Constraints on Galileon-induced precessions from solar system orbital motions