Put . The Poynting–Robertson drag acceleration has and . Its work is strictly dissipative:
For an unperturbed elliptic orbit, use , and . Averaging over its orbital period gives
Since , and , the Poynting–Robertson decay of a circumstellar orbit is
For a circular Kepler orbit this becomes . This is a secular first-order average, not an exact instantaneous decay law. If static radiation pressure is appreciable, use a bound conservative orbit with central parameter , requiring , and define its orbital elements accordingly; repeating the work calculation cancels and leaves the same coefficient .