Relativistic corrections to the central force problem in a generalized potential approach

Abstract

We present a novel technique to obtain relativistic corrections to the central force problem in the Lagrangian formulation, using a generalized potential energy function. We derive a general expression for a generalized potential energy function for all powers of the velocity, which when made a part of the regular classical Lagrangian can reproduce the correct (relativistic) force equation. We then go on to derive the Hamiltonian and estimate the corrections to the total energy of the system up to the fourth power in $|\vec{v}|/c$. We found that our work is able to provide a more comprehensive understanding of relativistic corrections to the central force results and provides corrections to both the kinetic and potential energy of the system. We employ our methodology to calculate relativistic corrections to the circular orbit under the gravitational force and also the first-order corrections to the ground state energy of the hydrogen atom using a semi-classical approach. Our predictions in both problems give reasonable agreement with the known results. Thus we feel that this work has pedagogical value and can be used by undergraduate students to better understand the central force and the relativistic corrections to it.