Equations of motion of test bodies in a spherically symmetric, static gravitational field

Abstract

We consider a class of theories of gravity in which the motion of test particles is governed by the path equation (with respect to a general affine connection Г). When we restrict attention to a spherically symmetric, static gravitational field, the path equation is characterized by three arbitrary functions of the gravitational field (as opposed to two in the case of metric theories where Г={ }). We find that there are essentially only two constraints on the three functions by appealing to solar system experiments. Therefore, we must supplement the equation of motion with other physical laws to obtain a value for the third arbitrary function (this, of course, is not necessary in the case of metric theories). If we consider theories in which both Г andg play a physical role we find in certain circumstances that this “third” condition is sufficient to prove that the theories under investigation reduce to their “metric” form.