Dynamics of Compact, Extended Celestial Bodies in Strong Gravitational Fields

天体拥有自身质量的一小部分，这是由于它们的内部引力束缚造成的，而天体的大小是有限的(而不是点状的)。当这些天体位于靠近黑洞或其他高度致密天体的强引力场中时，它们会经历最具启发性的运动。无论是在广义相对论中，还是在另一种理论中，这些物体在强重力环境中的运动方程都将根据第一原理进行计算。将微扰理论应用到精确的、强场的Schwarzschild环境中，而不是用微扰来研究空空间Minkowski环境中的运动这一经典问题。这些计算的结果可直接用于解释目前射电望远镜对脉冲星的观测结果，以及在不久的将来探测和理解来自宇宙的重力波信号的努力。

Celestial bodies possess a fraction of their own mass which results from their internal gravitational binding, and celestial bodies have finite size (rather than being point- bodies). Such bodies undergo their most revealing motions when located in the strong gravitational fields close to black holes or other highly compact bodies. The equations of motion of such bodies when located in the strong gravity environment will be calculated from first principles, both in general relativity theory and in alternative theories. Perturbation theory will be applied to the exact, strong field Schwarzschild environment, rather than working with the perturbations to the empty space Minkowski environment of the classic studies of this problem of motion. Direct application of the results of these calculations can be made to interpreting the results of present-day radio telescope observations of pulsars, and to near-future efforts to detect and understand gravity wave signals from the cosmos.