Parametrized post-Newtonian secular transit timing variations for exoplanets  

作　　者：Shan-Shan Zhao Yi Xie 

机构地区：[1]Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University [2]Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nanjing University, Ministry of Education

出　　处：《Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics》2013年第10期1231-1239,共9页天文和天体物理学研究（英文版）

基　　金：Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11103010 and J1210039);the Fundamental Research Program of Jiangsu Province of China under No. BK2011553;the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (No. 20110091120003);the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 1107020116)

摘　　要：Ground-based and space-borne observatories used for studying exoplanet transits now and in the future will considerably increase the number of exoplanets known from transit data and the precision of the measured times of transit minima.Variations in the transit times can not only be used to infer the presence of additional planets,but might also provide opportunities to test the general theory of relativity in these systems.To build a framework for these possible tests,we extend previous studies on the observability of the general relativistic precessions of periastron in transiting exoplanets to variations in secular transit timing under parametrized post-Newtonian formalism.We find that if one can measure the difference between observed and predicted variations of general relativistic secular transit timing to 1 s yr-1in a transiting exoplanet system with a Sun-like mass,a period of;day and a relatively small eccentricity of;.1,general relativity will be tested to the level of;%.Ground-based and space-borne observatories used for studying exoplanet transits now and in the future will considerably increase the number of exoplanets known from transit data and the precision of the measured times of transit minima.Variations in the transit times can not only be used to infer the presence of additional planets,but might also provide opportunities to test the general theory of relativity in these systems.To build a framework for these possible tests,we extend previous studies on the observability of the general relativistic precessions of periastron in transiting exoplanets to variations in secular transit timing under parametrized post-Newtonian formalism.We find that if one can measure the difference between observed and predicted variations of general relativistic secular transit timing to 1 s yr-1in a transiting exoplanet system with a Sun-like mass,a period of^1 day and a relatively small eccentricity of^0.1,general relativity will be tested to the level of^6%.

关 键 词：gravitation celestial mechanics planetary systems 

分 类 号：P185[天文地球—天文学] P315.7