We present a method to study the time variation of the orbital parameters of a post-Keplerian binary system undergoing a generic external perturbation. The method is the relativistic extension of the planetary Lagrangian equations. The theory only assumes the smallness of the external perturbation while relativistic effects are already included in the unperturbed problem. This is the major advantage of this novel approach over classical Lagrangian methods.

• Received 6 March 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.56.4782