The power of weak-field GR gravity

Abstract

While general relativity (GR) is our premier theory of gravity, galactic dynamics from the outset has been studied with Newtonian gravity (NG), guided by the long-held belief in the idea of the “Newtonian-limit” of GR. This maintains that when the gravitational field is weak and the velocities are nonrelativistic, NG is the appropriate theory, apart from small corrections at best (such as in GPS tracking). However, there are simple examples of phenomena where there is no NG counterpart. We present a particularly simple new example of the stark difference that NG and weak-field GR exhibit for a modified van Stockum source, which speaks to the flat galactic rotation curve problem. We note that the linear GR compatibility equation in the literature is incomplete. Its completion is vital for our case, leading to a stark contrast between GR and NG for totally flat van Stockum rotation curves.