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On the possibility of measuring the gravitomagnetic clock effect in an Earth space-based experiment

Lorenzo Iorio1 and Herbert I M Lichtenegger2

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In 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 and the possibility of measuring it is examined. The observable is the difference of the times required for l to pass from 0 to 2π for both senses of motion. Such a gravitomagnetic time shift, which is independent of the orbital parameters of the satellites, amounts to 5×10−7 s for the Earth; it is cumulative and should be measurable 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 ~ 0.01°, should be less than 0.006°. A pair of spacecraft endowed with a sophisticated intersatellite tracking apparatus and drag-free control down to 10-9 cm s-2 Hz-1/2 level might allow us to meet the stringent requirements posed by such a mission.


PACS

95.40.+s Artificial Earth satellites

95.30.Sf Relativity and gravitation

MSC

83Cxx General relativity

85A04 General

Subjects

Gravitation and cosmology

Astrophysics and astroparticles

Dates

Issue 1 (7 January 2005)

Received 29 January 2004, in final form 18 October 2004

Published 7 December 2004



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