Extended-body effects in cosmological spacetimes

Abstract

We study the dynamics of extended test bodies in flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetimes. It is shown that such objects can usually alter their inertial mass, spin, and center-of-mass trajectory purely through the use of internal deformations. Many of these effects do not have Newtonian analogs, and exist despite the presence of conserved momenta associated with the translational and rotational symmetries of the background.

14 pages, minor clarifications added

References in corpus (7)

• The motion of point particles in curved spacetime
• Equation of Motion of Small Bodies in Relativity
• Mass loss by a scalar charge in an expanding universe
• On the motion of spinning test particles in plane gravitational waves
• Mass change and motion of a scalar charge in cosmological spacetimes
• Ultrarelativistic circular orbits of spinning particles in a Schwarzschild field
• The Dynamics of a Classical Spinning Particle in Vaidya Space-Time

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Influence of internal structure on the motion of test bodies in extreme mass ratio situations
• Mechanics of extended masses in general relativity
• Self-forces from generalized Killing fields
• Electromagnetic self-forces and generalized Killing fields
• Dynamics of quadrupolar bodies in a Schwarzschild spacetime
• Extended-body motion in black hole spacetimes: What is possible?
• Extended-body effects and rocket-free orbital maneuvering
• Free-falling motion of an elastic rigid rod towards a Schwarzschild black hole