Generalized geodesic deviation in de Sitter spacetime

TL;DR

This paper explores the generalized geodesic deviation equation (GGDE) in de Sitter spacetime, demonstrating its validity over the traditional GDE when geodesics have large relative velocities near crossing points.

Contribution

It introduces the GGDE and illustrates its applicability in de Sitter spacetime, especially when geodesics have significant relative velocities, challenging the assumptions of the traditional GDE.

Findings

GGDE accurately describes relative acceleration near crossing points.

GDE fails when geodesics have large relative velocities.

The distinction is demonstrated through explicit calculations in de Sitter spacetime.

Abstract

The geodesic deviation equation (GDE) describes the tendency of objects to accelerate towards or away from each other due to spacetime curvature. The GDE assumes that nearby geodesics have a small rate of separation, which is formally treated as the same order in smallness as the separation itself. This assumption is discussed in various papers, but is typically not recognized in textbooks. Relaxing this assumption leads to the generalized geodesic deviation equation (GGDE). We demonstrate the distinction between the GDE and the GGDE by computing the relative acceleration between timelike geodesics in two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime. We do this by considering a fiducial geodesic and a secondary geodesic (both timelike) that cross with nonzero speed. These geodesics are spanned by a spacelike geodesic, whose tangent evaluated at the fiducial geodesic defines the separation. The second derivative of the separation describes the relative acceleration between the fiducial and secondary geodesics. Near the crossing point, where the separation between the timelike geodesics is small but their rates of separation can be large, we show that the GGDE holds but the GDE fails to apply.