4,304 research outputs found
LAGEOS-type Satellites in Critical Supplementary Orbit Configuration and the Lense-Thirring Effect Detection
In this paper we analyze quantitatively the concept of LAGEOS--type
satellites in critical supplementary orbit configuration (CSOC) which has
proven capable of yielding various observables for many tests of General
Relativity in the terrestrial gravitational field, with particular emphasis on
the measurement of the Lense--Thirring effect.Comment: LaTex2e, 20 pages, 7 Tables, 6 Figures. Changes in Introduction,
Conclusions, reference added, accepted for publication in Classical and
Quantum Gravit
A critical approach to the concept of a polar, low-altitude LARES satellite
According to very recent developments of the LARES mission, which would be
devoted to the measurement of the general relativistic Lense--Thirring effect
in the gravitational field of the Earth with Satellite Laser Ranging, it seems
that the LARES satellite might be finally launched in a polar, low--altitude
orbit by means of a relatively low--cost rocket. The observable would be the
node only. In this letter we critically analyze this scenario.Comment: LaTex2e, 11 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in
Classical and Quantum Gravit
Conservative evaluation of the uncertainty in the LAGEOS-LAGEOS II Lense-Thirring test
We deal with the test of the general relativistic gravitomagnetic
Lense-Thirring effect currently ongoing in the Earth's gravitational field with
the combined nodes \Omega of the laser-ranged geodetic satellites LAGEOS and
LAGEOS II.
One of the most important source of systematic uncertainty on the orbits of
the LAGEOS satellites, with respect to the Lense-Thirring signature, is the
bias due to the even zonal harmonic coefficients J_L of the multipolar
expansion of the Earth's geopotential which account for the departures from
sphericity of the terrestrial gravitational potential induced by the
centrifugal effects of its diurnal rotation. The issue addressed here is: are
the so far published evaluations of such a systematic error reliable and
realistic? The answer is negative. Indeed, if the difference \Delta J_L among
the even zonals estimated in different global solutions (EIGEN-GRACE02S,
EIGEN-CG03C, GGM02S, GGM03S, ITG-Grace02, ITG-Grace03s, JEM01-RL03B, EGM2008,
AIUB-GRACE01S) is assumed for the uncertainties \delta J_L instead of using
their more or less calibrated covariance sigmas \sigma_{J_L}, it turns out that
the systematic error \delta\mu in the Lense-Thirring measurement is about 3 to
4 times larger than in the evaluations so far published based on the use of the
sigmas of one model at a time separately, amounting up to 37% for the pair
EIGEN-GRACE02S/ITG-Grace03s. The comparison among the other recent GRACE-based
models yields bias as large as about 25-30%. The major discrepancies still
occur for J_4, J_6 and J_8, which are just the zonals the combined
LAGEOS/LAGOES II nodes are most sensitive to.Comment: LaTex, 12 pages, 12 tables, no figures, 64 references. To appear in
Central European Journal of Physics (CEJP
Will the recently approved LARES mission be able to measure the Lense-Thirring effect at 1%?
After the approval by the Italian Space Agency of the LARES satellite, which
should be launched at the end of 2009 with a VEGA rocket and whose claimed goal
is a about 1% measurement of the general relativistic gravitomagnetic
Lense-Thirring effect in the gravitational field of the spinning Earth, it is
of the utmost importance to reliably assess the total realistic accuracy that
can be reached by such a mission. The observable is a linear combination of the
nodes of the existing LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites and of LARES able to
cancel out the impact of the first two even zonal harmonic coefficients of the
multipolar expansion of the classical part of the terrestrial gravitational
potential representing a major source of systematic error. While LAGEOS and
LAGEOS II fly at altitudes of about 6000 km, LARES will be placed at an
altitude of 1450 km. Thus, it will be sensitive to much more even zonals than
LAGEOS and LAGEOS II. Their corrupting impact \delta\mu has been evaluated by
using the standard Kaula's approach up to degree L=70 along with the sigmas of
the covariance matrices of eight different global gravity solutions
(EIGEN-GRACE02S, EIGEN-CG03C, GGM02S, GGM03S, JEM01-RL03B, ITG-Grace02s,
ITG-Grace03, EGM2008) obtained by five institutions (GFZ, CSR, JPL, IGG, NGA)
with different techniques from long data sets of the dedicated GRACE mission.
It turns out \delta\mu about 100-1000% of the Lense-Thirring effect. An
improvement of 2-3 orders of magnitude in the determination of the high degree
even zonals would be required to constrain the bias to about 1-10%.Comment: Latex, 15 pages, 1 table, no figures. Final version matching the
published one in General Relativity and Gravitation (GRG
On a new observable for measuring the Lense-Thirring effect with Satellite Laser Ranging
In this paper we present a rather extensive error budget for the difference
of the perigees of a pair of supplementary SLR satellites aimed to the
detection of the Lense-Thirring effect.Comment: LaTex2e, 14 pages, 1 table, no figures. Some changes and additions to
the abstract, Introduction and Conclusions. References updated, typos
corrected. Equation corrected. To appear in General Relativity and
Gravitatio
The impact of the new CHAMP and GRACE Earth gravity models on the measurement of the general relativistic Lense--Thirring effect with the LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites
Among the effects predicted by the General Theory of Relativity for the
orbital motion of a test particle, the post-Newtonian gravitomagnetic
Lense-Thirring effect is very interesting and, up to now, there is not yet an
undisputable experimental direct test of it. To date, the data analysis of the
orbits of the existing geodetic LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites has yielded a
test of the Lense-Thirring effect with a claimed accuracy of 20%-30%. According
to some scientists such estimates could be optimistic. Here we wish to discuss
the improvements obtainable in this measurement, in terms of reliability of the
evaluation of the systematic error and reduction of its magnitude, due to the
new CHAMP and GRACE Earth gravity models.Comment: LaTex2e, 6 pages, no figures, no tables. Paper presented at 2nd CHAMP
science meeting, Potsdam, 1-4 September 200
Perspectives in measuring the PPN parameters beta and gamma in the Earth's gravitational fields with the CHAMP/GRACE models
The current bounds on the PPN parameters gamma and beta are of the order of
10^-4-10^-5. Various missions aimed at improving such limits by several orders
of magnitude have more or less recently been proposed like LATOR, ASTROD,
BepiColombo and GAIA. They involve the use of various spacecraft, to be
launched along interplanetary trajectories, for measuring the effects of the
solar gravity on the propagation of electromagnetic waves. In this paper we
investigate what is needed to measure the combination nu=(2+2gamma-beta)/3 of
the post-Newtonian gravitoelectric Einstein perigee precession of a test
particle to an accuracy of about 10^-5 with a pair of drag-free spacecraft in
the Earth's gravitational field. It turns out that the latest gravity models
from the dedicated CHAMP and GRACE missions would allow to reduce the
systematic error of gravitational origin just to this demanding level of
accuracy. In regard to the non-gravitational errors, the spectral noise density
of the drag-free sensors required to reach such level of accuracy would amounts
to 10^-8-10^-9 cm s^-2 Hz^-1/2 over very low frequencies. Although not yet
obtainable with the present technologies, such level of compensation is much
less demanding than those required for, e.g., LISA. As a by-product, an
independent measurement of the post-Newtonian gravitomagnetic Lense-Thirring
effect with a 0.9% accuracy would be possible as well. The forthcoming Earth
gravity models from CHAMP and GRACE will further reduce the systematic
gravitational errors in both of such tests.Comment: LaTex2e, 14 pages, 3 tables, no figures, 75 references. To appear in
Int. J. Mod. Phys.
Finite Grand Unified Theories and the Quark Mixing Matrix
In N = 1 super Yang-Mills theories, under certain conditions satisfied by the
spectrum and the Yukawa couplings, the beta functions will vanish to all orders
in perturbation theory. We address the generation of realistic quark mixing
angles and masses in such finite Grand Unified Theories. Working in the context
of finite SUSY SU(5), we present several examples with realistic quark mixing
matrices. Non-Abelian discrete symmetries are found to be important in
satisfying the conditions for finiteness. Our realistic examples are based on
permutation symmetries and the tetrahedral symmetry . These examples
enable us to address questions such as the decay rate of the proton in finite
GUTs.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, typos correcte
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