Post-Newtonian extension of the Newton - Cartan theory

Abstract

The theory obtained as a singular limit of general relativity, if the reciprocal velocity of light is assumed to tend to zero, is known to be not exactly the Newton - Cartan theory, but a slight extension of this theory. It involves not only a Coriolis force field, which is natural in this theory (although not originally Newtonian), but also a scalar field which governs the relation between Newton's time and relativistic proper time. Both fields are or can be reduced to harmonic functions, and must therefore be constants, if suitable global conditions are imposed. We assume this reduction of Newton - Cartan to Newton`s original theory as a starting point and ask for a consistent post-Newtonian extension and for possible differences to the usual post-Minkowskian approximation methods, as developed, for example, by Chandrasekhar. It is shown that both post-Newtonian frameworks are formally equivalent, as far as the field equations and the equations of motion for a hydrodynamical fluid are concerned.