Revisiting timelike and null geodesics in the Schwarzschild spacetime: general expressions in terms of Weierstrass elliptic functions

Abstract

The theory of Schwarzschild geodesics is revisited. Basing on a result by Weierstrass and Biermann, we derive a formula describing all non radial, timelike and null trajectories in terms of Weierstrass elliptic functions. Quite remarkably, a single formula works for an entire geodesic trajectory, even if it passes through turning points. Using this formula, we derive expressions for the proper and coordinate time along the geodesic.