The equation of Binet in classical and relativistic orbital mechanics

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Alvarez-Perez, Jose Luis
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Alvarez-Perez, Jose Luis
author_facet Alvarez-Perez, Jose Luis
contents Binet's equation provides a direct way to obtain the geometric shape of orbits in a central force field. It is well known that in Newtonian gravitation Binet's equation leads to all the conic curves as solutions for an inverse-square force. In this work, we show how Binet's equation arises from the horizontal and vertical infinitesimal displacements of a body in free fall and in inertial motion. This derivation uses elementary concepts of infinitesimal calculus. Second, we derive the relativistic version of Binet's equation for the Schwarzschild-(anti-)de Sitter metric. This derivation, which is novel, directly relates the coordinates involved in Binet's equation without the need to introduce potentials or the use of Killing vectors. Finally, we tackle some controversies related to the role of the cosmological constant in the trajectory of photons in a Schwarzschild-(anti-)de Sitter or even in Reissner-Nordström-(anti-)de Sitter spacetimes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_07485
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The equation of Binet in classical and relativistic orbital mechanics
Alvarez-Perez, Jose Luis
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Mathematical Physics
Binet's equation provides a direct way to obtain the geometric shape of orbits in a central force field. It is well known that in Newtonian gravitation Binet's equation leads to all the conic curves as solutions for an inverse-square force. In this work, we show how Binet's equation arises from the horizontal and vertical infinitesimal displacements of a body in free fall and in inertial motion. This derivation uses elementary concepts of infinitesimal calculus. Second, we derive the relativistic version of Binet's equation for the Schwarzschild-(anti-)de Sitter metric. This derivation, which is novel, directly relates the coordinates involved in Binet's equation without the need to introduce potentials or the use of Killing vectors. Finally, we tackle some controversies related to the role of the cosmological constant in the trajectory of photons in a Schwarzschild-(anti-)de Sitter or even in Reissner-Nordström-(anti-)de Sitter spacetimes.
title The equation of Binet in classical and relativistic orbital mechanics
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Mathematical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.07485