BIMSA > BIMSA General Relativity Seminar Constraints on extended-body motion in general relativity I: backgroud
Constraints on extended-body motion in general relativity I: backgroud
Organizers
Lars Andersson , Shuang Lin Huang , Bo Wen Zhao
Speaker
Abraham Harte
Time
Thursday, November 7, 2024 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Venue
Online
Online
Zoom 559 700 6085 (BIMSA)
Abstract
To a first approximation, objects in general relativity move along geodesics. Looked at more closely, a body's internal structure affects its motion, causing different objects to fall in different ways. This talk will explore what is possible and what is not in that context. For example, it is possible for a suitably-engineered spacecraft to drastically change its orbit purely by changing its shape. Still, there are constraints; not all orbital maneuvers are possible. I will discuss how constraints on extended-body motion arise from a very weak type of "local symmetry." This symmetry is associated with Killing vectors and with conformal Killing-Yano tensors, but from much more as well. There are qualitative differences in what is possible which depend on the Petrov type of background spacetime.