Covariant Calculation of General Relativistic Effects in an Orbiting Gyroscope Experiment

Abstract

We carry out a covariant calculation of the measurable relativistic effects in an orbiting gyroscope experiment. The experiment, currently known as Gravity Probe B, compares the spin directions of an array of spinning gyroscopes with the optical axis of a telescope, all housed in a spacecraft that rolls about the optical axis. The spacecraft is steered so that the telescope always points toward a known guide star. We calculate the variation in the spin directions relative to readout loops rigidly fixed in the spacecraft, and express the variations in terms of quantities that can be measured, to sufficient accuracy, using an Earth-centered coordinate system. The measurable effects include the aberration of starlight, the geodetic precession caused by space curvature, the frame-dragging effect caused by the rotation of the Earth and the deflection of light by the Sun.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.