Speaker
Description
Gravitational anomalies observed within the Solar System present significant challenges to our current understanding of gravitational interactions. These anomalies, including the anomalous secular drifts in the orbits of solar planetary bodies, the Pioneer Anomaly, the Flyby Anomaly, the Faint Young Sun Paradox and anomalous perihelion precession of solar planetary orbits, suggest potential limitations in existing gravitational models. This research aims to evaluate the viability of modified gravity theories, particularly the Azimuthally Symmetric Theory of Gravitation (ASTG-model), in explaining these phenomena. The ASTG-model extends Newtonian gravitation by incorporating azimuthal and polar field dependencies, thereby accounting for the spin of gravitating bodies. The gravitational potential in the ASTG-model is expressed as a function of radial distance and azimuthal angle, incorporating dynamic parameters related to the spin of the gravitating body. Preliminary investigations have shown that the ASTG-model can derive empirical formulas for observed anomalies, such as the Anderson formula for flyby anomalies. This formula relates the change in velocity at infinity to the difference in the cosines of the incoming and outgoing declination angles, and it involves constants related to the Earth’s radius, angular frequency, and the speed of light. The research will involve theoretical development and computational simulations to test the ASTG-model against empirical data. Key objectives include deriving and validating empirical formulas for flyby anomalies, extending the model to explain anomalous perihelion precession and assessing its applicability to other gravitational anomalies. The research will also compare the ASTG-model with other alternative gravitational theories to evaluate its relative effectiveness. By addressing these anomalies, this research seeks to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of gravitational interactions and their implications for astrophysics and cosmology. The findings are expected to provide insights into the nature of gravity and the potential existence of new gravitational phenomena, such as dark matter or dark energy.
Keywords:
Azimuthally Symmetric Theory of Gravitation, modified gravity theories, flyby anomaly, perihelion precession.
References:
- Anderson, J. D., Laing, P. A., Lau, E. L., Liu, A. S., Nieto, M. M. & Turyshev, S. G. (2002), ‘Study of The Anomalous Acceleration of Pioneer 10 and 11’, Physical Review D 65(8), 082004.
- Nyambuya, G. G. (2010), ‘Azimuthally Symmetric Theory of Gravitation - I. On the Perihelion Precession of Planetary Orbits’, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 403(3), 1381–1391.
| Stream | Science |
|---|