On Doppler tracking in cosmological spacetimes
arXiv:gr-qc/0605078 · doi:10.1088/0264-9381/23/24/019
Abstract
We give a rigorous derivation of the general-relativistic formula for the two-way Doppler tracking of a spacecraft in Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker and in McVittie spacetimes. The leading order corrections of the so-determined acceleration to the Newtonian acceleration are due to special-relativistic effects and cosmological expansion. The latter, although linear in the Hubble constant, is negligible in typical applications within the Solar System.
10 pages, 1 figure. Journal version