Why gravitational contraction must be accompanied by emission of radiation in both Newtonian and Einstein gravity

Abhas Mitra
Phys. Rev. D 74, 024010 – Published 10 July 2006

Abstract

By using virial theorem, Helmholtz and Kelvin showed that the contraction of a bound self-gravitating system must be accompanied by release of radiation energy irrespective of the details of the contraction process. This happens because the total Newtonian energy of the system EN (and not just the Newtonian gravitational potential energy EgN) decreases for such contraction. In the era of general relativity (GR) too, it is justifiably believed that gravitational contraction must release radiation energy. However no GR version of (Newtonian) Helmholtz- Kelvin (HK) process has ever been derived. Here, for the first time, we derive the GR version of the appropriate virial theorem and Helmholtz Kelvin mechanism by simply equating the well known expressions for the gravitational mass and the inertial mass of a spherically symmetric static fluid. Simultaneously, we show that the GR counterparts of global “internal energy”, “gravitational potential energy” and “binding energy” are actually different from what have been used so far. Existence of this GR HK process asserts that, in Einstein gravity too, gravitational collapse must be accompanied by emission of radiation irrespective of the details of the collapse process.

  • Received 10 May 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.74.024010

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Abhas Mitra*

  • MPI fur Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-67117 Heidelberg, Germany

  • *Electronic address: Abhas.Mitra@mpi-hd.mpg.de; Also at Theoretical Astrophysics Section, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai-400085, India

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 74, Iss. 2 — 15 July 2006

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review D

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×