Post-Newtonian Lagrangian planetary equations

TL;DR

This paper introduces a relativistic extension of planetary Lagrangian equations to analyze the orbital parameter variations in binary systems with relativistic effects under external perturbations.

Contribution

It develops a new method that incorporates relativistic effects into planetary equations, allowing for more accurate modeling of perturbed relativistic binary systems.

Findings

The method effectively accounts for relativistic effects in orbital dynamics.

It provides a systematic way to study orbital variations under external influences.

The approach improves upon classical methods by including relativistic corrections.

Abstract

We present a method to study the time variation of the orbital parameters of a Post-Keplerian binary system undergoing a generic external perturbation. The method is the relativistic extension of the planetary Lagrangian equations. The theory only assumes the smallness of the external perturbation while relativistic effects are already included in the unperturbed problem. This is the major advantage of this novel approach over classical Lagrangian methods.