Abstract
Applying the recently developed dynamical perturbation formalism on cosmological background to scalar-tensor theory, we provide a solid theoretical basis and a rigorous justification for phenomenological models of orbital dynamics that are currently used to interpret experimental measurements of the time-dependent gravitational constant. We derive the field equations for the scalar-tensor perturbations and study their gauge freedom associated with the cosmological expansion. We find a new gauge eliminating a prohibitive number of gauge modes in the field equations and significantly simplifying post-Newtonian equations of motion for localized astronomical systems in the universe with a time-dependent gravitational constant. We identify several new post-Newtonian terms and calculate their effect on secular cosmological evolution of the osculating orbital elements.
- Received 27 June 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.94.044015
© 2016 American Physical Society