7,235 research outputs found
On the perspectives of testing the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati gravity model with the outer planets of the Solar System
The multidimensional braneworld gravity model by Dvali, Gabadadze and Porrati
was primarily put forth to explain the observed acceleration of the expansion
of the Universe without resorting to dark energy. One of the most intriguing
features of such a model is that it also predicts small effects on the orbital
motion of test particles which could be tested in such a way that local
measurements at Solar System scales would allow to get information on the
global properties of the Universe. Lue and Starkman derived a secular
extra-perihelion \omega precession of 5\times 10^-4 arcseconds per century,
while Iorio showed that the mean longitude \lambda is affected by a secular
precession of about 10^-3 arcseconds per century. Such effects depend only on
the eccentricities e of the orbits via second-order terms: they are, instead,
independent of their semimajor axes a. Up to now, the observational efforts
focused on the dynamics of the inner planets of the Solar System whose orbits
are the best known via radar ranging. Since the competing Newtonian and
Einsteinian effects like the precessions due to the solar quadrupole mass
moment J2, the gravitoelectric and gravitomagnetic part of the equations of
motion reduce with increasing distances, it would be possible to argue that an
analysis of the orbital dynamics of the outer planets of the Solar System, with
particular emphasis on Saturn because of the ongoing Cassini mission with its
precision ranging instrumentation, could be helpful in evidencing the predicted
new features of motion. In this note we investigate this possibility in view of
the latest results in the planetary ephemeris field. Unfortunately, the current
level of accuracy rules out this appealing possibility and it appears unlikely
that Cassini and GAIA will ameliorate the situation.Comment: LaTex, 22 pages, 2 tables, 10 figures, 27 references. Reference [17]
added, reference [26] updated, caption of figures changed, small change in
section 1.
Super-ASTROD: Probing primordial gravitational waves and mapping the outer solar system
Super-ASTROD (Super Astrodynamical Space Test of Relativity using Optical
Devices or ASTROD III) is a mission concept with 3-5 spacecraft in 5 AU orbits
together with an Earth-Sun L1/L2 spacecraft ranging optically with one another
to probe primordial gravitational-waves with frequencies 0.1 microHz - 1 mHz,
to test fundamental laws of spacetime and to map the outer solar system. In
this paper we address to its scientific goals, orbit and payload selection, and
sensitivity to gravitational waves.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, presented to 7th International LISA Symposium,
16-20 June 2008, Barcelona; submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravity;
presentation improve
Children in Greco-Roman society. Age, development, work and nosological relevance. A historico-medical perspective
The definition of childhood in historical studies is as recent
a problem as the attention devoted by scholars to this age
group. A reflection on the nomenclature used in Greek and
Latin literary, epigraphic, legal and properly medical sources
and the comparison with paleopathological studies allows us
to interpret the historical perception of childhood in terms
of incompleteness. In the Hippocratic and Galenic tradition
this incompleteness unites children to fragile and marginalized
categories, namely women and the elderly, but above all
it does not recognize their specific diseases, delaying the birth
of pediatrics for centuries
On the effects of the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati braneworld gravity on the orbital motion of a test particle
In this paper we explicitly work out the secular perturbations induced on all
the Keplerian orbital elements of a test body to order O(e^2) in the
eccentricity e by the weak-field long-range modifications of the usual
Newton-Einstein gravity due to the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (DGP) braneworld
model. The Gauss perturbative scheme is used. It turns out that the argument of
pericentre and the mean anomaly are affected by secular rates which are
independent of the semimajor axis of the orbit of the test particle. The first
nonvaishing eccentricity-dependent corrections are of order O(e^2). For
circular orbits the Lue-Starkman (LS) effect on the pericentre is obtained.
Some observational consequences are discussed for the Solar System planetary
mean longitudes lambda which would undergo a 1.2\cdot 10^-3 arcseconds per
century braneworld secular precession. According to recent data analysis over
92 years for the EPM2004 ephemerides, the 1-sigma formal accuracy in
determining the Martian mean longitude amounts to 3\cdot 10^-3 milliarcseconds,
while the braneworld effect over the same time span would be 1.159
milliarcseconds. The major limiting factor is the 2.6\cdot 10^-3 arcseconds per
century systematic error due to the mismodelling in the Keplerian mean motion
of Mars. A suitable linear combination of the mean longitudes of Mars and Venus
may overcome this problem. The formal, 1-sigma obtainable observational
accuracy would be \sim 7%. The systematic error due to the present-day
uncertainties in the solar quadrupole mass moment, the Keplerian mean motions,
the general relativistic Schwarzschild field and the asteroid ring would amount
to some tens of percent.Comment: LaTex2e, 23 pages, 5 tables, 1 figure, 37 references. Second-order
corrections in eccentricity explicitly added. Typos corrected. References
update
Sediment transport and deposition during extreme sea storm events at the Salerno Bay (Tyrrhenian Sea): comparison of field data with numerical model results
Seismic stratigraphy and core litho-stratigraphy in the Salerno Bay inner shelf (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) reveal significant storm deposition episodes over the last 1 ky. Three major events are preserved as decimetre thick silt/sand layers bounded at their base by erosional surfaces and sealed in the muddy marine sequences between 25 and 60 m of depth. Geochronology and chrono-stratigraphy on core sediment point towards a recurrence of major sea storms between 0.1 and 0.3 ky and put the last significant event in the 19th century, when no local meteorological time series is available. A modelling of extreme sea-storms with a return period of about 0.1 ky is here proposed based on historical hindcast and aims at explaining the occurrence of such unusual deep and thick sand deposits in the northern sector of the bay. Results highlight the vulnerability of the northern coast of the Salerno Bay to the south western sea storms which can drive waves up to about 8 m high and wave period of about 13 s. With these conditions an intense combined flow current is formed and might account for winnowing fine sand down to the depth of 40 m at least. The numerical model thus confirms a possible sand transport in the bottom boundary layer due to wave-current interaction and could corroborate the interpretation of the most recent sand layers, included in the cores, as being generated under extreme sea storm conditions
On the Possibility of Measuring the Gravitomagnetic Clock Effect in an Earth Space-Based Experiment
In this paper the effect of the post-Newtonian gravitomagnetic force on the
mean longitudes 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 in passing from 0 to 2 for both senses of
motion. Such gravitomagnetic time shift, which is independent of the orbital
parameters of the satellites, amounts to 5 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
cm in knowing the difference between the semimajor axes of the satellites,
and the difference of the inclinations of the orbital planes which, for
, should be less than . A pair of spacecrafts
endowed with a sophisticated intersatellite tracking apparatus and drag-free
control down to 10 cm s Hz level might allow to meet
the stringent requirements posed by such a mission.Comment: LaTex2e, 22 pages, no tables, 1 figure, 38 references. Final version
accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit
Horava-Lifshitz gravity: tighter constraints for the Kehagias-Sfetsos solution from new solar system data
We analytically work out the perturbation induced by the Kehagias-Sfetsos
(KS) space-time solution of the Horava-Lifshitz (HL) modified gravity at long
distances on the two-body range for a pair of test particles A and B orbiting
the same mass M. We apply our results to the most recently obtained
range-residuals \delta\rho for some planets of the solar system (Mercury, Mars,
Saturn) ranged from the Earth to effectively constrain the dimensionsless KS
parameter \psi_0 for the Sun. We obtain \psi_0 >= 7.2 x 10^-10 (Mercury),
\psi_0 >= 9 x 10^-12 (Mars), \psi_0 >= 1.7 x 10^-12 (Saturn). Such lower bounds
are tighter than other ones existing in literature by several orders of
magnitude. We also preliminarily obtain \psi_0 >= 8 x 10^-10 for the system
constituted by the S2 star orbiting the Supermassive Black Hole (SBH) in the
center of the Galaxy.Comment: LaTex2e, 15 pages, 1 table, 3 figures, 31 references. Version
matching the one at press in International Journal of Modern Physics D
(IJMPD
Spiral galaxies rotation curves in the Horava - Lifshitz gravity theory
We focus on a modified version of Horava - Lifschitz theory and, in
particular, we consider the impact of its weak - field static spherically
symmetric limit on the galaxy dynamics. In a previous paper, we used the
modified gravitational potential obtained in this theory to evaluate the Milky
Way rotation curve using a spheroidal truncated power - law bulge and a double
exponential disc as the only sources of the gravitational field and showed that
the modified rotation curved is not in agreement with the data. Making a step
forward, we here include also the contribution from a dark matter halo in order
to see whether this helps fitting the rotation curve data. As a test case, we
consider a sample of spiral galaxies with smooth baryon matter distribution and
well measured circular velocity profiles. It turns out that, although a
marginal agreement with the data can be found, this can only be obtained if the
dark matter halo has an unrealistically small virial mass and incredibly large
concentration. Such results can be interpreted as a strong evidence against the
reliability of the gravitational potential obtained in the modified version of
Horava -Lifschitz theory that we consider.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables, accepted for publication on MNRA
Gravitomagnetism and the Speed of Gravity
Experimental discovery of the gravitomagnetic fields generated by
translational and/or rotational currents of matter is one of primary goals of
modern gravitational physics. The rotational (intrinsic) gravitomagnetic field
of the Earth is currently measured by the Gravity Probe B. The present paper
makes use of a parametrized post-Newtonian (PN) expansion of the Einstein
equations to demonstrate how the extrinsic gravitomagnetic field generated by
the translational current of matter can be measured by observing the
relativistic time delay caused by a moving gravitational lens. We prove that
measuring the extrinsic gravitomagnetic field is equivalent to testing
relativistic effect of the aberration of gravity caused by the Lorentz
transformation of the gravitational field. We unfold that the recent Jovian
deflection experiment is a null-type experiment testing the Lorentz invariance
of the gravitational field (aberration of gravity), thus, confirming existence
of the extrinsic gravitomagnetic field associated with orbital motion of
Jupiter with accuracy 20%. We comment on erroneous interpretations of the
Jovian deflection experiment given by a number of researchers who are not
familiar with modern VLBI technique and subtleties of JPL ephemeris. We propose
to measure the aberration of gravity effect more accurately by observing
gravitational deflection of light by the Sun and processing VLBI observations
in the geocentric frame with respect to which the Sun is moving with velocity
30 km/s.Comment: 16 pages, no figure
Measuring the relativistic perigee advance with Satellite Laser Ranging
One of the most famous classical tests of General Relativity is the
gravitoelectric secular advance of the pericenter of a test body in the
gravitational field of a central mass. In this paper we explore the possibility
of performing a measurement of the gravitoelectric pericenter advance in the
gravitational field of the Earth by analyzing the laser-ranged data to some
existing, or proposed, laser-ranged geodetic satellites. At the present level
of knowledge of various error sources, the relative precision obtainable with
the data from LAGEOS and LAGEOS II, suitably combined, is of the order of
. Nevertheless, these accuracies could sensibly be improved in the
near future when the new data on the terrestrial gravitational field from the
CHAMP and GRACE missions will be available. The use of the perigee of LARES
(LAser RElativity Satellite), in the context of a suitable combination of
orbital residuals including also LAGEOS II, should further raise the precision
of the measurement. As a secondary outcome of the proposed experiment, with the
so obtained value of \ppn and with \et=4\beta-\gamma-3 from Lunar Laser
Ranging it could be possible to obtain an estimate of the PPN parameters
and at the level.Comment: LaTex2e, 14 pages, no figures, 2 tables. To appear in Classical and
Quantum Gravit
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