SETI public: Are we far from testing general relativity with the transiting extrasolar planet

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Paper (*cross-listing*): gr-qc/0505107
replaced with revised version Tue, 14 Jun 2005 20:22:11 GMT (10kb)

Title: Are we far from testing general relativity with the transiting
extrasolar planet HD 209458b `Osiris'?

Authors: Lorenzo Iorio
Comments: LaTex2e, 10 pages, 15 references, no figures, no tables. Rewritten
version with major emphasis on the systematic errors related to the
Keplerian
period

In this paper we investigate the possibility of measuring the general
relativistic gravitoelectric contribution P^(GE) to the orbital period P of
the transiting exoplanet HD 209458b 'Osiris'. It turns out that the
predicted magnitude of such an effect is \sim 0.1 s, while the most recent
determinations of the orbital period of HD 209458b with the photometric
transit method are accurate to \sim 0.01 s. The present analysis shows that
the major limiting factor is the \sim 1 m s^-1 sensitivity in the
measurement of the projected semiamplitude of the star's radial velocity K.
Indeed, it affects the determination of the mass m of the planet which, in
turn, induces a systematic error in the Keplerian period P^(0) of \sim 8 s.
It is of crucial importance because P^(0) should be subtracted from the
measured period in order to extract the relativistic correction. The
present-day uncertainty in $m$ does not yet make necessary the inclusion of
relativistic corrections in the data-reduction process of the determination
of the system's parameters. The present situation could change only if
improvements of one-two orders of magnitude in the ground-based Doppler
spectroscopy technique occurred.

\\ ( http://arXiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0505107 , 10kb)

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