2005 Ohio Student Research Forum

Abstract

Orbits Around Compact Astrophysical Objects and Black Holes
Amanda Heslar
University of Cincinnati, Department of Physics
Mentor: Dr. Paul Esposito

The physics of compact astrophysical objects including White Dwarf stars, Neutron Stars, and Black Holes has been a very active area of research in physics for the last forty years. The properties of matter in these extreme situations necessarily involve the gravitational field and this means that General Relativity must be used to describe them. Although the internal features of such configurations of matter has become of key importance in theoretical physics, the current set of satellite observatories make it likely that in the very near future observations will be able to distinguish between these compact objects. In order to do this, astrophysicists must know how matter in the vicinity of such an object behaves. In effect, when we look at an object, we see effects of matter in its neighborhood.