Large scale square ring laser gyros with a length of four meters on each side are approaching a sensitivity of 1x10^-11 rad/s/sqrt(Hz). This is about the regime required to measure the gravitomagnetic effect (Lense Thirring) of the Earth. For an ensemble of linearly independent gyros each measurement signal depends upon the orientation of each single axis gyro with respect to the rotational axis of the Earth. Therefore at least 3 gyros are necessary to reconstruct the complete angular orientation of the apparatus. In general, the setup consists of several laser gyroscopes (we would prefer more than 3 for sufficient redundancy), rigidly referenced to each other. Adding more gyros for one plane of observation provides a cross-check against intra-system biases and furthermore has the advantage of improving the signal to noise ratio by the square root of the number of gyros. In this paper we analyze a system of two pairs of identical gyros (twins) with a slightly different orientation with respect to the Earth axis. The twin gyro configuration has several interesting properties. The relative angle can be controlled and provides a useful null measurement. A quadruple twin system could reach a 1% sensitivity after 3:2 years of data, provided each square ring has 6 m length on a side, the system is shot noise limited and there is no source for 1/f- noise.
The sensitivity to angular rotation of the top class Sagnac gyroscope GINGERINO is carefully investigated with standard statistical means, using 103 days of continuous operation and the available geodesic measurements of the Earth angular rotation rate. All features of the Earth rotation rate are correctly reproduced. The sensitivity of fractions of frad/s is attained for long term runs. This excellent sensitivity and stability put Sagnac gyroscopes at the forefront for fundamental physics, in particular for tests of general relativity and Lorentz violation, where the sensitivity plays the key…
Measuring in a single location on Earth its angular rotation rate with respect to the celestial frame, with a sensitivity enabling access to the tiny Lense-Thirring effect is an extremely challenging task. GINGERINO is a large frame ring laser gyroscope, operating free running and unattended inside the underground laboratory of the Gran Sasso, Italy. The main geodetic signals, i.e., Annual and Chandler wobbles, daily polar motion and Length of the Day, are recovered from GINGERINO data using standard linear regression methods, demonstrating a sensitivity better than 1 prad/s, therefore close t…
We propose an under-ground experiment to detect the general relativistic effects due to the curvature of space-time around the Earth (de Sitter effect) and to rotation of the planet (dragging of the inertial frames or Lense-Thirring effect). It is based on the comparison between the IERS value of the Earth rotation vector and corresponding measurements obtained by a tri-axial laser detector of rotation. The proposed detector consists of six large ring-lasers arranged along three orthogonal axes. In about two years of data taking, the 1% sensitivity required for the measurement of the Lense-Thi…
We calculate the mass density of the Earth using a Gravito-Electro-Magnetic theory on an extended 5D Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric, in which we define the vacuum. Our results are in very good agreement with that of the Dziewonski-Anderson model.
GINGERINO is one of the most sensitive Sagnac laser-gyroscope based on an heterolithic mechanical structure. It is a prototype for GINGER, the laser gyroscopes array proposed to reconstruct the Earth rotation vector and in this way to measure General Relativity effects. Many factors affect the final sensitivity of laser gyroscopes, in particular, when they are used in long term measurements, slow varying environmental parameters come into play. To understand the role of different terms allows to design more effective mechanical as well as optical layouts, while a proper model of the dynamics a…
GINGER (Gyroscopes IN GEneral Relativity), based on an array of large dimension ring laser gyroscopes, is aiming at measuring in a ground laboratory the gravito-electric and gravito-magnetic effects (also known as De Sitter and Lense-Thirrings effect), foreseen by General Relativity. The sensitivity depends on the size of the RLG cavities and the cavity losses, considering the present sensitivity, and assuming the total losses of 6 ppm, with 40m perimeter and 1 day of integration time sensitivity of the order of frad/s is attainable. The construction of GINGER is at present under discussion.
Gravitomagnetic effects originates from the rotation of the source of the gravitational field and from the rotational features of the observers' frame. In recent years, gravitomagnetism has been tested by means of its impact on the precession of LAGEOS orbits and on the precession of spherical gyroscopes in the GP-B experiment. What we suggest here is that light can be used as a probe to test gravitomagnetic effects in an terrestrial laboratory: the proposed detector consists of large ring-lasers arranged along three orthogonal axes.
We focus on the possibility of measuring the gravitomagnetic effects due to the rotation of the Earth, by means of a space-based experiment that exploits satellites in geostationary orbits. Due to the rotation of the Earth, there is an asymmetry in the propagation of electromagnetic signals in opposite directions along a closed path around the Earth. We work out the delays between the two counter-propagating beams for a simple configuration, and suggest that accurate time measurements could allow, in principle, to detect the gravitomagnetic effect of the Earth
The geodetic and frame-dragging effects are the direct consequences of the spacetime curvature near Earth which can be probed from the Gravity probe B (GP-B) satellite. The satellite result matches quite well with Einstein's general relativistic result. The gyroscope of the satellite which measures the spacetime curvature near Earth contains lots of electrons and nucleons. Ultralight axions, vector gauge bosons, and unparticles can interact with these electrons and nucleons through different spin-dependent and spin-independent operators and change the drift rate of the gyroscope. Some of these…
The present work analyzes the consequences of the gravitomagnetic effect of the Earth upon a bosonic gas in which the corresponding atoms have a non--vanishing orbital angular momentum. Concerning the ground state of the Bogoliubov space of this system we deduce the consequences, on the pressure and on the speed of sound, of the gravitomagnetic effect. We prove that the effect on a single atom is very small, but we also show that for some thermodynamical properties the consequences scale as a non--trivial function of the number of particles.
Ultra sensitive ring laser gyroscopes are regarded as potential detectors of the general relativistic frame-dragging effect due to the rotation of the Earth: the project name is GINGER (Gyroscopes IN GEneral Relativity), a ground-based triaxial array of ring lasers aiming at measuring the Earth rotation rate with an accuracy of 10^-14 rad/s. Such ambitious goal is now within reach as large area ring lasers are very close to the necessary sensitivity and stability. However, demanding constraints on the geometrical stability of the laser optical path inside the ring cavity are required. Thus we …
We numerically work out the impact of the general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect on the Earth-Mercury range caused by the gravitomagnetic field of the rotating Sun. The peak-to peak nominal amplitude of the resulting time-varying signal amounts to 1.75 10^1 m over a temporal interval 2 yr. Future interplanetary laser ranging facilities should reach a cm-level in ranging to Mercury over comparable timescales; for example, the BepiColombo mission, to be launched in 2014, should reach a 4.5 - 10 cm level over 1 - 8 yr. We looked also at other Newtonian (solar quadrupole mass moment, ring of t…
In General Relativity, the rotation of a gravitating body like the Earth influences the motion of orbiting test particles or satellites in a non-Newtonian way. This causes, e.g., a precession of the orbital plane known as the Lense-Thirring effect and a precession of the spin of a gyroscope known as the Schiff effect. Here, we discuss a third effect first introduced by Cohen and Mashhoon called the gravitomagnetic clock effect. It describes the difference in proper time of counterrevolving clocks after a revolution of $2π$. For two clocks on counterrotating equatorial circular orbits around th…
GINGER (Gyroscopes IN GEneral Relativity), based on an array of large dimension ring laser gyroscopes, is aiming at measuring in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory the Earth angular velocity with unprecedented sensitivity in order to record the general relativity effects on top of the Earth crust; 1 part $10^9$ of the Earth surface is the goal to access the signals expected by general relativity, due to deSitter and Lense-Thirring effects, this target is also valuable for Lorentz Violation in the gravity sector. GINGER is an multi-disciplinar project. Being attached to the Earth crust, it w…
A new experiment aimed to the detection of the gravito-magnetic Lense-Thirring effect at the surface of the Earth will be presented; the name of the experiment is GINGER. The proposed technique is based on the behavior of light beams in ring lasers, also known as gyrolasers. A three-dimensional array of ringlasers will be attached to a rigid monument; each ring will have a different orientation in space. Within the space-time of a rotating mass the propagation of light is indeed anisotropic; part of the anisotropy is purely kinematical (Sagnac effect), part is due to the interaction between th…
In the last two decades an anomalous variation in the asymptotic velocity of spacecraft performing a flyby manoeuvre around Earth has been discovered through careful Doppler tracking and orbital analysis. No viable hypothesis for a conventional explanation of this effect has been proposed and its origin remains unexplained. In this paper we discuss a strong transversal component of the gravitomagnetic field as a possible source of the flyby anomaly. We show that the perturbations induced by such a field could fit the anomalies both in sign and order of magnitude. But, although the secular cont…
Inertial sensors stimulate very large interest, not only for their application but also for fundamental physics tests. Ring laser gyros, which measure angular rotation rate, are certainly among the most sensitive inertial sensors, with excellent dynamic range and bandwidth. Large area ring laser gyros are routinely able to measure fractions of prad/s, with high duty cycle and bandwidth, providing fast, direct and local measurement of relevant geodetic and geophysical signals. Improvements of a factor $10-100$ would open the windows for general relativity tests, as the GINGER project, an Earth …
This paper proposes a strategy for detecting the presence of a gravito-magnetic field due to the rotation of the galactic dark halo. Visible matter in galaxies rotates and dark matter, supposed to form a halo incorporating barionic matter, rotates also, since it interacts gravitationally with the rest. Pursuing the same line of reasoning, dark matter should produce all gravitational effects predicted by general relativity, including a gravito-magnetic field. I discuss a possible strategy for measuring that field. The idea recovers the old Sagnac effect and proposes to use a triangle having thr…
In a geocentric kinematically rotating ecliptical coordinate system in geodesic motion through the deformed spacetime of the Sun, both the longitude of the ascending node $Ω$ and the inclination $I$ of an artificial satellite of the spinning Earth are affected by the post-Newtonian gravitoelectric De Sitter and gravitomagnetic Lense-Thirring effects. By choosing a circular orbit with $I = Ω= 90°$ for a potential new spacecraft, which we propose to name ELXIS, it would be possible to measure each of the gravitomagnetic precessions separately at a percent level, or, perhaps, even better dependin…
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
