Analytic Post-Newtonian Astrometric and Spectroscopic Models of Orbits around Black Holes

TL;DR

This paper introduces a fast, first-order post-Newtonian model for analyzing S-star orbits around the Galactic Center's black hole, enabling efficient tests of general relativity with upcoming telescopes.

Contribution

It presents a novel, computationally efficient post-Newtonian model for S-star orbit analysis, improving upon slow numerical geodesic solutions.

Findings

Future telescopes may detect the Shapiro effect in S-star orbits.

The model enables faster analysis of orbital data.

Potential to test general relativity near supermassive black holes.

Abstract

Observations of the S-stars, the cluster of young stars in the inner 0.1 pc of the Galactic Center, have been crucial in providing conclusive evidence for a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. Since some of the stars have orbits less than that of a typical human lifetime, it is possible to observe multiple orbits and test the weak-field regime of general relativity. Current calculations of S-star orbits require slow and expensive computations in order to numerically solve geodesic equations for many small time steps. In this paper, we present a computationally efficient, first-order post-Newtonian model for the astrometric and spectroscopic data gathered for the S-stars. We find that future, 30-m class telescopes -- and potentially even current large telescopes with very high spectroscopic resolution -- may be able to detect the Shapiro effect for an S-star in the next decade or so.