The motion of point particles in curved spacetime
read the original abstract
This review is concerned with the motion of a point scalar charge, a point electric charge, and a point mass in a specified background spacetime. In each of the three cases the particle produces a field that behaves as outgoing radiation in the wave zone, and therefore removes energy from the particle. In the near zone the field acts on the particle and gives rise to a self-force that prevents the particle from moving on a geodesic of the background spacetime. The field's action on the particle is difficult to calculate because of its singular nature: the field diverges at the position of the particle. But it is possible to isolate the field's singular part and show that it exerts no force on the particle. What remains after subtraction is a smooth field that is fully responsible for the self-force. The mathematical tools required to derive the equations of motion of a point scalar charge, a point electric charge, and a point mass in a specified background spacetime are developed here from scratch. The review begins with a discussion of the basic theory of bitensors. It then applies the theory to the construction of convenient coordinate systems to chart a neighbourhood of the particle's word line. It continues with a thorough discussion of Green's functions in curved spacetime. The review presents a detailed derivation of each of the three equations of motion. Because the notion of a point mass is problematic in general relativity, the review concludes with an alternative derivation of the equations of motion that applies to a small body of arbitrary internal structure.
This paper has not been read by Pith yet.
Forward citations
Cited by 31 Pith papers
-
Emergence of Calabi-Yau manifolds in high-precision black hole scattering
At 5PM-1SF order, Calabi-Yau three-fold periods emerge in radiation-reacted observables for classical black hole scattering computed with worldline QFT and advanced IBP/DE methods.
-
Quadrupole and quadratic-in-spin effects in quasicircular, spinning, asymmetric binaries
Calculates energy fluxes with quadratic-in-spin and quadrupole effects for small-mass-ratio spinning binaries in self-force theory, providing numerical data and sixth-order PN expansions.
-
Gravitational Sommerfeld Effects: Formalism, Renormalization, and Perturbation to $O(G^{10})$
Closed-form Sommerfeld factor via EFT connection matrix with analytic O(G^10) magnitude and phase for l=0,1,2 waves, plus a new RG equation for radiative multipole moments that improves waveform resummation beyond tai...
-
Gravitational edge mode powers galaxy flat rotation curves
Gravitational edge modes from spacetime surgery act as effective dark matter by flattening galaxy rotation curves through modified particle trajectories.
-
Analytic Solution for the Motion of Spinning Particles in Plane Gravitational Wave Spacetime
Closed-form expressions for the worldlines of spinning particles in plane gravitational wave backgrounds are obtained as single integrals over retarded time by exploiting six conserved quantities from translational Ki...
-
Black hole mergers beyond general relativity: a self-force approach
Self-force theory is extended to compute merger and ringdown waveforms in beyond-GR black hole binaries under the extreme mass-ratio approximation, with first calculations of self-force corrections to the merger waveform.
-
Generalized Perturbed Kepler Problem: Gravitational Wave Imprints from Eccentric Compact Binaries
A unified framework for the perturbed Kepler problem derives modified eccentric orbits and gravitational wave imprints from a general perturbed potential, offering a source-specific alternative to post-Newtonian expansions.
-
Self-force calculations with numerical relativity methods
A new numerical relativity-inspired method achieves exponential convergence for scalar self-force calculations in Kerr spacetime on circular equatorial orbits up to near-extremal spins and the ISCO.
-
The Continuum Limit Analysis of Causal Fermion Systems for Curved Spacetimes
Causal fermion systems are constructed for globally hyperbolic spacetimes such that their continuum limit satisfies the Euler-Lagrange equations of the causal action principle if and only if the coupled Einstein-Dirac...
-
The Classical Gravitational Impulse at High Energies
The gravitational impulse for ultrarelativistic massive scalars is resummed to all orders in G_N at fixed G_N s/mb, recovering post-Minkowski results and predicting the leading high-energy behavior to eleventh post-Mi...
-
Conservative and dissipative sectors in a nonlinear scalar model for the gravitational self-force problem
Multiple Hamiltonian definitions of the conservative second-order self-force are identified in a nonlinear scalar toy model, restricted to unbound scattering trajectories.
-
Efficient and Stable Computation of Gravitational-Wave Fluxes from Generic Kerr Orbits via a Unified HeunC Framework
A HeunC framework computes gravitational-wave fluxes from generic Kerr orbits with 10^{-11} relative errors and speedups of 3-60x over prior packages by eliminating auxiliary parameters via analytic continuation and a...
-
Efficient and Stable Computation of Gravitational-Wave Fluxes from Generic Kerr Orbits via a Unified HeunC Framework
A unified confluent HeunC framework computes gravitational-wave fluxes from generic Kerr orbits with 10^{-11} relative errors and speedups of 3-60x over existing packages for low- and high-order modes.
-
Efficient and Stable Computation of Gravitational-Wave Fluxes from Generic Kerr Orbits via a Unified HeunC Framework
A unified confluent HeunC framework with hybrid connection-coefficient computation and adaptive bi-power quadrature yields relative errors of order 10^{-11} and 2-10x speedups over existing packages for total radiativ...
-
Black Hole Response Theory and its Exact Shockwave Limit
Black hole response theory in WQFT exactly reproduces the Aichelburg-Sexl shockwave metric, geodesics, and the transfer matrix for gravitational-wave scattering off it via post-Minkowskian resummation.
-
Cosmological zoom-in perturbation theory as a consistent beyond point-particle approximation framework
A covariant zoom-in perturbation theory framework resolves geodesic breakdown via hierarchical matter horizons, producing an effective energy-momentum tensor whose backreaction explains flat galaxy rotation curves wit...
-
Universality in Relativistic Spinning Particle Models
Four relativistic spinning particle models (vector oscillator, spinor oscillator, spherical top, massive twistor) describe identical physics in free and interacting theories within the spin-magnitude-preserving sector.
-
Periodic orbits as probes of charged loop quantum gravity black holes through gravitational waves
Periodic orbits in charged LQG black holes produce zoom-whirl gravitational waveforms detectable by future space-based observatories, with features depending on the fixed polymerization parameter.
-
On Perturbatively Dressed Observables
Perturbative dressing of local operators in QED and GR induces kinematic singularities and is mathematically equivalent to dynamical temporal gauge fixing.
-
Probing Kerr Symmetry Breaking with LISA Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals
LISA EMRIs can constrain deviations from Kerr equatorial symmetry to 10^{-2} and axial symmetry to 10^{-3} using Analytic Kludge waveforms and Fisher analysis.
-
Are Black Holes Fuzzballs? Probing Horizon-Scale Structure with LISA
LISA can constrain non-axisymmetric mass quadrupole deformations at the 10^{-3} level and axisymmetric mass octupole deformations at the 10^{-2} level in EMRI signals to test fuzzball proposals.
-
Gravitational edge mode powers galaxy flat rotation curves
Spacetime backreaction derived from gluing spacetime sheets across matter horizons modifies particle trajectories to source flat galaxy rotation curves.
-
Cosmological perturbation theory of primordial compact sources
Exact hypergeometric Green's functions yield closed-form linearized metric perturbations from quadrupolar sources in power-law cosmologies.
-
Toward a worldsheet theory of entanglement entropy
A new action for entanglement entropy in AdS3/CFT2 derives gravity equations, reduces to a string worldsheet, reproduces bit threads, and unifies several quantum gravity conjectures.
-
Equivalence Principle violation in metric-affine gravity and finite-temperature effects
Metric-affine gravity formulates equivalence principle violations via non-metricity that parallel finite-temperature mass-ratio shifts, and a generalized Fermi-Walker derivative shows no orthonormal tetrad propagates ...
-
Probing Gravitational Wave Signatures from Periodic Orbits of Regular Black Holes in Asymptotically Safe Gravity
The quantum parameter ξ in an asymptotically safe regular black hole shifts the innermost stable orbit, enhances whirl behavior in periodic geodesics, and produces amplitude-modulated millihertz gravitational-wave str...
-
Constraining Lorentz symmetry breaking in bumblebee gravity with extreme mass-ratio inspirals
Extreme mass-ratio inspirals can constrain the Lorentz symmetry breaking parameter ℓ in bumblebee gravity to O(10^{-4}) uncertainty with LISA.
-
Constraining Lorentz symmetry breaking in bumblebee gravity with extreme mass-ratio inspirals
LISA can constrain the Lorentz symmetry breaking parameter ell in bumblebee gravity to O(10^{-4}) uncertainty via EMRI waveform analysis in the AAK framework.
-
Constraining Lorentz symmetry breaking in bumblebee gravity with extreme mass-ratio inspirals
EMRI waveforms in bumblebee gravity allow LISA to constrain the Lorentz symmetry breaking parameter ell at the level of O(10^{-4}).
-
Lectures on the Bondi--Metzner--Sachs group and related topics in infrared physics
Lecture notes that build the BMS group from prerequisites to applications in soft theorems, memory effects, and new material on asymptotic conformal Killing horizons.
-
Black hole spectroscopy: from theory to experiment
A review summarizing the state of the art in black hole quasinormal modes, ringdown waveform modeling, current LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observations, and prospects for LISA and next-generation detectors.
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.