The motion of vibrating systems in Schwarzchild spacetime

Abstract

In this communication, the effects of vibrations at high frequencies onto a freely falling two-body system in Schwarzschild spacetime are investigated. We present these effects for different kinds of reference motions, all of which are placed in regions of weak gravitation: circular orbits, radial free fall (with different initial velocities) and radial free fall with a small tangential velocity. The vibrations induce a change in the motion of the vibrating system, which is characterized by a radial deviation between the vibrating system and the reference motion of the non-vibrating system. For a circular orbit, we show that the maximal radial deviation increases linearly with the initial radius. For a radial free fall, the radial deviation after one oscillation decreases quadratically with respect to the initial radius. © International Astronomical Union 2010.