A COMPREHENSIVE INTRODUCTION TO THE LAGEOS GRAVITOMAGNETIC EXPERIMENT: FROM THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GRAVITOMAGNETIC FIELD IN PHYSICS TO PRELIMINARY ERROR ANALYSIS AND ERROR BUDGET

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The existence of the gravitomagnetic field. generated by mass currents according to Einstein geometrodynamics, has never been proved. The author of this paper, after a discussion of the importance of the gravitomagnetic field in physics, describes the experiment that he proposed in 1984 to measure this field using LAGEOS (Laser geodynamics satellite) together with another non-polar, laser-ranged satellite with the same orbital parameters as LAGEOS but a supplementary inclination. The author then studies the main perturbations and measurement uncertainties that may affect the measurement of the Lense-Thirring drag. He concludes that, over the period of the node of ~3 years, the maximum error, using two nonpolar laser ranged satellites with supplementary inclinations, should not be larger than ~10% of the gravitomagnetic effect to be measured.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: