Accounting Orbital Precession with a Higgs-Like Physical Gravity-Field Model

We posit the gravitational field to be a direct manifestation of a flat-space physical entity, whose properties are only partially known. Specifically, herein we first derive that (i) motion of an object along a non-isometric field gradient results in a commensurate change $\left[m_{\psi }\left(r\right)\right]$ to its inertial mass, and (ii) that its field potential is indicative of the refractive index of the medium, hence needing a corrective potential scaling. By applying these properties through first principles, for a weak-field planetary assumption we derive a rosette equation that reproduces the General Relativity (GR) precession result exactly. We further consider strong-field stellar precession, such as S62, where observational data is still emergent but both the proposed theory and exact-GR solutions are comparable—an area for further study. The overall solution has no impact on established artefacts around light-bending observations at these scales. This physical framework draws on the mechanism by which the Higgs field imparts mass to elementary particles, positing an analogous, partially-characterized gravitational field as a step toward a more unified physical account of gravity.