Constraining the electric charges of some astronomical bodies in Reissner-Nordstrom spacetimes and generic r^-2-type power-law potentials from orbital motions

TL;DR

This paper derives model-independent constraints on the electric charges of astronomical bodies by analyzing their orbital motions within Reissner-Nordström spacetimes, considering additional r^-2-type potentials.

Contribution

It introduces a method to constrain electric charges of celestial objects using orbital data, extending to hypothetical power-law interactions with r^-2 potentials.

Findings

Constraints on electric charge Q for various astronomical bodies

Limits on hypothetical r^-2 power-law interactions

Application of Reissner-Nordström metric to orbital dynamics

Abstract

We put model-independent, dynamical constraints on the net electric charge Q of some astronomical and astrophysical objects by assuming that their exterior spacetimes are described by the Reissner-Nordstroem metric, which induces an additional potential U_RN \propto Q^2 r^-2. Our results extend to other hypothetical power-law interactions inducing extra-potentials U_pert = r^-2 as well (abridged).