The solar test of the equivalence principle

 dc.contributor.author Anderson, John en_US dc.contributor.author Gross, Mark en_US dc.contributor.author Nordtvedt, Kenneth en_US dc.contributor.author Turyshev, Slava en_US dc.date.accessioned 2006-07-14T18:31:08Z en_US dc.date.available 2006-07-14T18:31:08Z en_US dc.date.issued 1996-03-01 en_US dc.identifier.citation The Astrophysical Journal 459 (1996) 365-370 en_US dc.identifier.issn 1538-4357 en_US dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1850/2114 en_US dc.description Also archived at: arXiv:gr-qc/9510029 v1 16 Oct 1995 en_US dc.description.abstract The Earth, Mars, Sun, Jupiter system allows for a sensitive test of the strong equivalence principle (SEP) which is qualitatively different from that provided by Lunar Laser Ranging. Using analytic and numerical methods we demonstrate that Earth-Mars ranging can provide a useful estimate of the SEP parameter $\eta$. Two estimates of the predicted accuracy are derived and quoted, one based on conventional covariance analysis, and another (called modified worst case'' analysis) which assumes that systematic errors dominate the experiment. If future Mars missions provide ranging measurements with an accuracy of $\sigma$ meters, after ten years of ranging the expected accuracy for the SEP parameter $\eta$ will be of order $(1-12)\times 10^{-4}\sigma$. These ranging measurements will also provide the most accurate determination of the mass of Jupiter, independent of the SEP effect test. (Refer to PDF file for exact formulas.) en_US dc.description.sponsorship MG acknowledges the partial support by an AWU-JPL sabbatical fellowship. KLN was supported in part by National Aeronautic and Space Administration throughout Contract NASW-4840. SGT was supported by National Research Council, Resident Research Associateship award. This work was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with National Aeronautic and Space Administration. en_US dc.format.extent 130147 bytes en_US dc.format.mimetype application/pdf en_US dc.language.iso en_US en_US dc.publisher The Astrophysical Journal en_US dc.relation RIT Scholars content from RIT Digital Media Library has moved from http://ritdml.rit.edu/handle/1850/2114 to RIT Scholar Works http://scholarworks.rit.edu/article/1498, please update your feeds & links! dc.subject Gravitation en_US dc.subject Solar system en_US dc.subject Strong equivalence principle en_US dc.subject Weak equivalence principle en_US dc.title The solar test of the equivalence principle en_US dc.type Article en_US

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