Newtonian Limit in General Relativity

Notes for GR-I and GR-II - CCD

Consider the Einstein eld equations in the context where we impose the requirements: 1. The coordinate system is cartesian with coordinates (x0 , x1 , x2 , x3 ). 2. The pressure is vanishingly small, so we can take T00 = c2 and all other Tab are zero. 3. Time dependence is very slow, so
x0

can be dropped.

4. The metric is gmn = mn + fmn where mn is the Minkowski metric in cartesian coordinates so that mn = diag (1, 1, 1, 1), and fmn are small relative to unity. We will drop terms of second order in fmn and in fmn|s . Writing the Einstein equations in the form:
1 a Rab 2 b R = T ab

(1)

and contracting on a and b, we have: R 1 4R = T so that R = T 2 We can then rewrite the eld equations in the form: Rab = Tab 1 T gab 2 (3) (2)

Since the only non-zero component of the energy-momentum tensor is T00 , we will only consider the eld equation: (4) R00 = T00 1 g T 2 00 All components of Tab vanish except for T00 = c2 , so that we have T = g ac Tca = g 00 T00 and thus g00 T = c2 , leaving us with the eld equation: R00 = 1 c2 2

(5)

c Charles C. Dyer

To calculate R00 , we need to calculate components of the Riemann tensor, but in doing so, we can drop the quadratic terms in the expression for this tensor, since they will involve quadratic terms in the derivatives of fab . Thus we can write:
a Rambn = a mn|b mb|n

(6)

Using gmn = mn + fmn , this becomes: Rambn = 1 as fsn|mb + fmb|sn fmn|bs fbs|mn 2 Contracting on a and b, we then have: as fs0|a0 + fa0|s0 f00|as fas|00 R00 = Ra0a0 = 1 2 Dropping all time derivatives leaves only one term in the sum, so that: R00 = 1 as f00|as = 1 f00| 2 2 (9) (8) (7)

where , {1, 2, 3}, and the second equality follows from the fact that we are dropping all time derivatives of fab . Given the form of ab , it follows that: f00| = 2 f00 Consequently the only signicant eld equation reduces to the Poisson equation: 2 f00 = c2 provided that f00 is proportional to the usual Newtonian gravitational potential. Consider the geodesic equations:
a b d2 xn n dx dx = ab d 2 d d

(10)

(11)

(12)

With the restrictions given above, we have the 4-velocity ua (c, 0, 0, 0), so that the spatial equations of motion are: d2 x 2 = (13) 00 c dt2 where 1, 2, 3 and we have used that fact that the time coordinate is also the proper time of the slowly moving test particle. Using the denition of the Christoel symbol:
1 ec gcm|b + gcb|m gmb|c e mb = 2 g

(14) (15)

we have:
1 ec gc0|0 + gc0|0 g00|c e 00 = 2 g

Dropping the time derivatives as before, we then have:

1 00 = 2 f00|

(16)

but with our choice of ab , we have that: f00| = f00 Thus our spatial equations of motion become: d2 x 1 2 = 2 c f00 dt2 We must compare this to the usual Newtonian equations of motion: d2 x = U dt2 (19) (18) (17)

where U is the usual Newtonian potential. This then requires that f00 and U be related by: U=1 c2 f00 (20) 2 With this identication, we then have: c2 = 2 f00 =
2 2 U c2

2 4G c2

(21)

By taking this Newtonian limit, we can then relate the constant to the Newtonian gravitational constant, G: 8G = 4 (22) c The metric is almost that of Minkowski spacetime, but with the modication: g00 = 1 + 2U c2 (23)

In the above discussion, we have assumed that a particle being acted upon by only the gravitational eld, that is the spacetime geometry, moves along a geodesic. Initially it was believed that this was something that had to be imposed, in addition to the Einstein eld equations. It was later shown that the conservation relation, T ab||b = 0, implies that the particle moving only under the inuence of gravity would follow a geodesic path. In electromagnetism described by Maxwells equations, one is free to set up any arrangement of charges to act as sources for the electromagnetic eld. In particular, it is quite consistent with Maxwells equations to position two point charges, and compute the elds. Of course, the two particles will experience a mutual force, but it is not necessary for the particles to accelerate under that force. This is because it is possible to introduce some hidden force to counteract the electromagnetic forces, leaving the system static. In general relativity, the situation is complicated by the fact that the very stress that one has introduced must contribute to the gravitational eld, since it has augmented the stress energy, and consequently altered the geometry of the spacetime.