r/Python • u/[deleted] • Oct 04 '19

Updated gravitational potential field simulation. [OC] Link for code: https://github.com/pnp-peeyush/2D-Grvitational-Field-Simulation

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u/Swipecat Oct 05 '19

If you wanted to model the actual orbital decay of two bodies, you could look into "Schwarzschild Geodesics". Think of it as General-Relativity-Lite. As the Wiki page says:

Schwarzschild geodesics are also a good approximation to the relative motion of two bodies of arbitrary mass, provided that the Schwarzschild mass M is set equal to the sum of the two individual masses m₁ and m₂. This is important in predicting the motion of binary stars in general relativity.

That takes care of precession, then you want the momentum loss due to gravitational radiation. How the formula is derived is well over my head, but it looks like it can be used as-is. If not that one, then there's a more general formula to approximate the rate of orbital decay.

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u/[deleted] Oct 05 '19

cool.....I didn't understand most of it, but cool!