On the Possibility of Measuring the Gravitomagnetic Clock Effect in an Earth Space-Based Experiment

dc.creatorIorio, Lorenzo
dc.creatorLichtenegger, Herbert I. M.
dc.date2002-10-10
dc.date2004-11-01
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T06:33:11Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T06:33:11Z
dc.descriptionIn this paper the effect of the post-Newtonian gravitomagnetic force on the mean longitudes $l$ of a pair of counter-rotating Earth artificial satellites following almost identical circular equatorial orbits is investigated. The possibility of measuring it is examined. The observable is the difference of the times required to $l$ in passing from 0 to 2$π$ for both senses of motion. Such gravitomagnetic time shift, which is independent of the orbital parameters of the satellites, amounts to 5$\times 10^{-7}$ s for Earth; it is cumulative and should be measured after a sufficiently high number of revolutions. The major limiting factors are the unavoidable imperfect cancellation of the Keplerian periods, which yields a constraint of 10$^{-2}$ cm in knowing the difference between the semimajor axes $a$ of the satellites, and the difference $I$ of the inclinations $i$ of the orbital planes which, for $i\sim 0.01^\circ$, should be less than $0.006^\circ$. A pair of spacecrafts endowed with a sophisticated intersatellite tracking apparatus and drag-free control down to 10$^{-9}$ cm s$^{-2}$ Hz$^{-{1/2}}$ level might allow to meet the stringent requirements posed by such a mission.
dc.descriptionLaTex2e, 22 pages, no tables, 1 figure, 38 references. Final version accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravity
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0210030
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0210030
dc.identifierClass.Quant.Grav. 22 (2005) 119-132
dc.identifierdoi:10.1088/0264-9381/22/1/008
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/99111
dc.subjectGeneral Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleOn the Possibility of Measuring the Gravitomagnetic Clock Effect in an Earth Space-Based Experiment
dc.typetext

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