Test of general relativity and measurement of the lense-thirring effect with two earth satellites

Science

Volumn 279, Issue 5359, 1998, Pages 2100-2103

  Ciufolini, Ignazio ^a   Pavlis, Erricos ^b   Chieppa, Federico ^a   Fernandes Vieira, Eduardo ^c   Pérez Mercader, Juan ^c  

^a SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY OF ROME   (Italy)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY   (United States)

^c CENTRO DE ASTROBIOLOGÍA CSIC INTA   (Spain)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; ASTRONOMY; GRAVITY; MAGNETISM; PHYSICS; PRIORITY JOURNAL; ROTATION; TELECOMMUNICATION;

EID: 0032571418     PISSN: 00368075     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1126/science.279.5359.2100     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. C. W. Misner, K. S. Thorne, J. A. Wheeler, Gravitation (Freeman, San Francisco, 1973).
2. I. Ciufolini and J. A. Wheeler, Gravitation and Inertia (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 1995).
3. A direct observation of the Lense-Thirring effect using the LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites was obtained in 1995 [I. Ciufolini et al., Nuovo Cimento A 109, 579 (1996) ]. However, the total observational period of this analysis was quite short, and the perturbations model was less accurate than the one used in the measurement reported in (20). Because of the refined perturbations models and the longer period of observation, the present work is the first accurate direct measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect using the LAGEOS satellites. An indirect astrophysical observation of frame-dragging was obtained in 1988 using the periastron precession rate of the binary pulsar PSR 1913+16 [ K. Nordtvedt, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 27, 1395 (1988)]. Recent analyses of galactic sources of x-rays may represent another astrophysical observation of this effect in the accretion disks of black holes and neutron stars [ W. Cui et al., Astrophys. J. 492, L53 (1998)].
4. A direct observation of the Lense-Thirring effect using the LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites was obtained in 1995 [I. Ciufolini et al., Nuovo Cimento A 109, 579 (1996) ]. However, the total observational period of this analysis was quite short, and the perturbations model was less accurate than the one used in the measurement reported in (20). Because of the refined perturbations models and the longer period of observation, the present work is the first accurate direct measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect using the LAGEOS satellites. An indirect astrophysical observation of frame-dragging was obtained in 1988 using the periastron precession rate of the binary pulsar PSR 1913+16 [ K. Nordtvedt, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 27, 1395 (1988)]. Recent analyses of galactic sources of x-rays may represent another astrophysical observation of this effect in the accretion disks of black holes and neutron stars [ W. Cui et al., Astrophys. J. 492, L53 (1998)].
5. A direct observation of the Lense-Thirring effect using the LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites was obtained in 1995 [I. Ciufolini et al., Nuovo Cimento A 109, 579 (1996) ]. However, the total observational period of this analysis was quite short, and the perturbations model was less accurate than the one used in the measurement reported in (20). Because of the refined perturbations models and the longer period of observation, the present work is the first accurate direct measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect using the LAGEOS satellites. An indirect astrophysical observation of frame-dragging was obtained in 1988 using the periastron precession rate of the binary pulsar PSR 1913+16 [ K. Nordtvedt, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 27, 1395 (1988)]. Recent analyses of galactic sources of x-rays may represent another astrophysical observation of this effect in the accretion disks of black holes and neutron stars [ W. Cui et al., Astrophys. J. 492, L53 (1998)].
6. J. Lense and H. Thirring, Phys. Z 19, 156 (1918) [English translation by B. Mashhoon, F. W. Hehl, D. S. Theiss, Gen. Relativ. Gravitation 16, 711 (1984)].
7. J. Lense and H. Thirring, Phys. Z 19, 156 (1918) [English translation by B. Mashhoon, F. W. Hehl, D. S. Theiss, Gen. Relativ. Gravitation 16, 711 (1984)].
8. In Newton's famous gedanken experiment of a rotating bucket filled with water, the question was "which is the origin of the inertial forces that curve the surface of the water in the bucket? Are these forces produced by the relative rotation of the bucket with respect to absolute space or with respect to the other masses of the universe?"
9. K. S. Thorne, R. H. Price, D. A. MacDonald, Eds., Black Holes: The Membrane Paradigm (Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT, 1986).
10. S. C. Cohen et al., Eds., J. Geophys. Res. 90 (no. B11), 9215-9438 (1985); P. Bender and C. C. Goad, in Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on the Use of Artificial Satellites for Geodesy and Geodynamics, G. Veis and E. Livieratos, Eds. (National Technical University, Athens, 1979) pp. 145-161.
11. S. C. Cohen et al., Eds., J. Geophys. Res. 90 (no. B11), 9215-9438 (1985); P. Bender and C. C. Goad, in Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on the Use of Artificial Satellites for Geodesy and Geodynamics, G. Veis and E. Livieratos, Eds. (National Technical University, Athens, 1979) pp. 145-161.
12. K. Nordtvedt, Phys. Today 49, 26 (May 1996).
13. J. J. Degnan and E. C. Pavlis, GPS World 5, 62 (1994).
14. II ≈ 52.65°.
15. International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) Annual Report, 1996 (Observatoire de Paris, Paris, July 1997).
16. D. McCarthy, The 1996 IERS Conventions (Observatoire de Paris, Paris, 1996).
17. F. G. Lemoine et al., presented at the 1997 Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics Scientific Assembly, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 5 to 9 September 1997.
18. D. P. Rubincam, J. Geophys. Res. 93, 13803 (1988); ibid. 95, 4881 (1990); _ and A. Mallama, ibid. 100, 20285 (1995); C. F. Martin and D. P. Rubincam, ibid. 101, 3215 (1996).
19. D. P. Rubincam, J. Geophys. Res. 93, 13803 (1988); ibid. 95, 4881 (1990); _ and A. Mallama, ibid. 100, 20285 (1995); C. F. Martin and D. P. Rubincam, ibid. 101, 3215 (1996).
20. D. P. Rubincam, J. Geophys. Res. 93, 13803 (1988); ibid. 95, 4881 (1990); _ and A. Mallama, ibid. 100, 20285 (1995); C. F. Martin and D. P. Rubincam, ibid. 101, 3215 (1996).
21. D. P. Rubincam, J. Geophys. Res. 93, 13803 (1988); ibid. 95, 4881 (1990); _ and A. Mallama, ibid. 100, 20285 (1995); C. F. Martin and D. P. Rubincam, ibid. 101, 3215 (1996).
22. P. Farinella, D. V. Y. Vokrouhlicky, F. Barlier, ibid., 17861.
23. R. S. Gross, ibid., p. 8729.
24. D. E. Pavlis et al., GEODYN II: Operations Manual (1997), vol. 3.
25. I. Ciufolini, Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 278 (1986); Nuovo Cimento A 109, 1709 (1996).
26. I. Ciufolini, Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 278 (1986); Nuovo Cimento A 109, 1709 (1996).
27. _, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 4, 3083 (1989); see also B. Tapley, J. C. Ries, R. J. Eanes, M. M. Watkins, NASA-ASI Study on LAGEOS III (1989), part A, I. Ciufolini et al.; ibid., part B.
28. _, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 4, 3083 (1989); see also B. Tapley, J. C. Ries, R. J. Eanes, M. M. Watkins, NASA-ASI Study on LAGEOS III (1989), part A, I. Ciufolini et al.; ibid., part B.
29. _, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 4, 3083 (1989); see also B. Tapley, J. C. Ries, R. J. Eanes, M. M. Watkins, NASA-ASI Study on LAGEOS III (1989), part A, I. Ciufolini et al.; ibid., part B.
30. I. Ciufolini et al., Classical Quantum Gravity 14, 2701 (1997).
31. This work was significantly aided by several programs and facilities of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in particular through data provided to us by the Crustal Dynamics Data and Information System (CDDIS) of NASA GSFC and the use of the program GEODYN II. We also appreciate unconditional help from D. E. Pavlis and D. D. Rowlands. I.C. and F.C. were supported in part by ASI, E.F.-V. and J.P.-M. by the Ministries of Education and Defense of Spain, and E.P. in part by NASA grant NCC-5-60.