scholarly journals Relativistic astrometry and astrometric relativity

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S248) ◽  
pp. 356-362
Author(s):  
S. A. Klioner

AbstractThe interplay between modern astrometry and gravitational physics is very important for the progress in both these fields. Below some threshold of accuracy, Newtonian physics fails to describe observational data and the Einstein's relativity theory must be used to model the data adequately. Many high-accuracy astronomical techniques have already passed this threshold. Moreover, modern astronomical observations cannot be adequately modeled if relativistic effects are considered as small corrections to Newtonian models. The whole way of thinking must be made compatible with relativity: this starts with the concepts of time, space and reference systems.An overview of the standard general-relativistic framework for modeling of high-accuracy astronomical observations is given. Using this framework one can construct a standard set of building blocks for relativistic models. A suitable combination of these building blocks can be used to formulate a model for any given type of astronomical observations. As an example the problem of four dimensional solar system ephemerides is exposed in more detail. The limits of the present relativistic formulation are also briefly summarized.On the other hand, high-accuracy astronomical observations play important role for gravitational physics itself, providing the latter with crucial observational tests. Perspectives for these astronomical tests for the next 15 years are summarized.

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (08) ◽  
pp. 1550065 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Rowland

Galaxy rotation curves are generally analyzed theoretically using Newtonian physics; however, two groups of authors have claimed that for self-gravitating dusts, general relativity (GR) makes significantly different predictions to Newtonian physics, even in the weak field, low velocity limit. One group has even gone so far as to claim that nonlinear general relativistic effects can explain flat galactic rotation curves without the need for cold dark matter. These claims seem to contradict the well-known fact that the weak field, low velocity, low pressure correspondence limit of GR is Newtonian gravity, as evidenced by solar system tests. Both groups of authors claim that their conclusions do not contradict this fact, with Cooperstock and Tieu arguing that the reason is that for the solar system, we have test particles orbiting a central gravitating body, whereas for a galaxy, each star is both an orbiting body and a contributor to the net gravitational field, and this supposedly makes a difference due to nonlinear general relativistic effects. Given the significance of these claims for analyses of the flat galactic rotation curve problem, this article compares the predictions of GR and Newtonian gravity for three cases of self-gravitating dusts for which the exact general relativistic solutions are known. These investigations reveal that GR and Newtonian gravity are in excellent agreement in the appropriate limits, thus supporting the conventional use of Newtonian physics to analyze galactic rotation curves. These analyses also reveal some sources of error in the referred to works.


2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 727-730
Author(s):  
H.-J. Fahr ◽  
M. Siewert

Abstract. According to general relativistic theories, cosmological spacetime is dynamic. This prediction is in excellent agreement with the huge majority of astronomical observations on large cosmic scales, especially the observations of cosmological redshifts of distant galaxies. However, on scales of heliospheric distances, verifications of general relativistic effects are based on Schwarzschild metric tests or kinetical corrections, such as the perihelion motion of Mercury, photon deflection at the Sun and gravitational photon redshifts in central gravity fields. As we will show in this paper, there is, however, a chance to detect new cosmologically relevant features on heliospheric scales by careful study of photon propagations in the local spacetime metrics, based on red- or blueshifts as a clear, but up to now overlooked, signature of the local spacetime dynamics. Thus, we propose the challenging possibility of carrying out experiments of cosmological relevance by simply using high-precision radio tracking of heliospheric spaceprobes, as already practised in cases like Pioneer-10/11, Galileo and Ulysses.


Author(s):  
David M. Wittman

General relativity explains much more than the spacetime around static spherical masses.We briefly assess general relativity in the larger context of physical theories, then explore various general relativistic effects that have no Newtonian analog. First, source massmotion gives rise to gravitomagnetic effects on test particles.These effects also depend on the velocity of the test particle, which has substantial implications for orbits around black holes to be further explored in Chapter 20. Second, any changes in the sourcemass ripple outward as gravitational waves, and we tell the century‐long story from the prediction of gravitational waves to their first direct detection in 2015. Third, the deflection of light by galaxies and clusters of galaxies allows us to map the amount and distribution of mass in the universe in astonishing detail. Finally, general relativity enables modeling the universe as a whole, and we explore the resulting Big Bang cosmology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 503 (3) ◽  
pp. 4563-4575
Author(s):  
A Jiménez-Rosales ◽  
J Dexter ◽  
S M Ressler ◽  
A Tchekhovskoy ◽  
M Bauböck ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of accreting black holes, we show that a suitable subtraction of the linear polarization per pixel from total intensity images can enhance the photon ring feature. We find that the photon ring is typically a factor of ≃2 less polarized than the rest of the image. This is due to a combination of plasma and general relativistic effects, as well as magnetic turbulence. When there are no other persistently depolarized image features, adding the subtracted residuals over time results in a sharp image of the photon ring. We show that the method works well for sample, viable GRMHD models of Sgr A* and M87*, where measurements of the photon ring properties would provide new measurements of black hole mass and spin, and potentially allow for tests of the ‘no-hair’ theorem of general relativity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Peron

The spacetime around Earth is a good environment in order to perform tests of gravitational theories. According to Einstein’s view of gravitational phenomena, the Earth mass-energy content curves the surrounding spacetime in a peculiar way. This (relatively) quiet dynamical environment enables a good reconstruction of geodetic satellites (test masses) orbit, provided that high-quality tracking data are available. This is the case of the LAGEOS satellites, built and launched mainly for geodetic and geodynamical purposes, but equally good for fundamental physics studies. A review of these studies is presented, focusing on data, models, and analysis strategies. Some recent and less recent results are presented. All of them indicate general relativity theory as a very good description of gravitational phenomena, at least in the studied environment.


Author(s):  
Weijuan Meng ◽  
Dinghui Yang ◽  
Xingpeng Dong ◽  
Jian Ma

ABSTRACT Although teleseismic waveform tomography can provide high-resolution images of the deep mantle, it is still unrealistic to numerically simulate the whole domain of seismic wave propagation due to the huge amount of computation. In this article, we develop a new three-dimensional hybrid method to address this issue, which couples the modified frequency–wavenumber (FK) method with the 3D time–space optimized symplectic (TSOS) method. First, the FK method, which is used to calculate the semianalytical incident wavefields in the layered reference model, is modified to compute the wavefields efficiently with a significantly low-memory requirement. Second, 3D TSOS method is developed to model the seismic wave propagating in the local 3D heterogeneous domain. The low memory requirement of the modified FK method and the high accuracy of the TSOS method make it feasible to obtain highly accurate synthetic seismograms efficiently. A crust–upper mantle model for P-, SV-, and SH-wave incidences is calculated to benchmark the accuracy and efficiency of the 3D optimized FK-TSOS method. Numerical experiments for 3D models with heterogeneities, undulated discontinuous interfaces, and realistic model in eastern Tibet, illustrate the capability of hybrid method to accurately capture the scattered waves caused by heterogeneities in 3D medium. The 3D optimized FK-TSOS method developed shows low-memory requirement, high accuracy, and high efficiency, which makes it be a promising forward method to further apply to high-resolution mantle structure images beneath seismic array.


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