Eddington capture sphere around luminous relativistic stars

Abstract We discuss the interplay of gravity and radiation in a static, spherically symmetric spacetime. Because of the spacetime curvature, balance between radiation pressure from spherical star and effective force of gravity may be established in a particular distance from the star surface, on so-called Eddington capture sphere. This is in contrast with the Newtonian scenario, for which Eddington luminosity of the radiation assures gravity-radiation balance at any radius. We explore properties of this relativistic equilibrium and the dynamics of test particles under radiation influence in the strong gravity regime.