DOCSLIB.ORG

On the Possibility of Testing the Weak Equivalence Principle Using Cosmological Data Sets

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
On the Possibility of Testing the Weak Equivalence Principle Using Cosmological Data Sets DEGREE PROJECT IN ENGINEERING PHYSICS, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2019 On the Possibility of Testing the Weak Equivalence Principle Using Cosmological Data Sets DEXTER BERGSDAL KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES Master of Science Thesis On the Possibility of Testing the Weak Equivalence Principle Using Cosmological Data Sets Dexter Bergsdal Particle and Astroparticle Physics, Department of Physics, School of Engineering Sciences KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm, Sweden 2019 Typeset in LATEX Akademisk avhandling f¨or avl¨aggande av teknologie masterexamen i teknisk fysik. Scientific thesis for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering Physics. TRITA–SCI-GRU 2019:379 c Dexter Bergsdal, November 2019 Printed in Sweden by Universitetsservice US AB, Stockholm November 2019 Abstract The Equivalence Principle (EP) is the most fundamental concept of Einstein’s Gen- eral Relativistic theory of gravity (GR) which currently serves as the leading theory in modern cosmology governing the dynamical evolution of the universe. Follow- ing the observations of the seemingly accelerating expansion of the universe there is a consensus for models assuming the existence of a theoretical “dark energy” component. There is an unsettling rift between the prediction of this component from quantum field theoretical arguments and the value inferred from observations of the expansion rate, causing tension regarding the validity of GR as an accurate theory of cosmological modelling. Since the EP is an integral part of GR, there is precedence for providing more thorough tests of its implications. Currently, the conviction in the EP is mostly based on rigorous tests performed within the confine- ments of our galactic vicinity. As such, it is an interesting proposition to investigate the EP on a grander scale, where the e↵ects of cosmology can be considered, to possibly further our understanding on these issues. In this thesis we investigate the possibility of testing the EP using spectral lag data of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) combined with Shapiro time delay data inferred from the large-scale matter distribution of the universe. We motivate a model for the cosmological Shapiro delay that is described by the gravitational potential fluctuations of the large-scale structure. We show that a decisive test requires a detailed description of these fluctuations on the full line-of-sight (LoS) between the source and the observer. Although our data in this work lacks the quality to put new constraints on EP violation, our test is promising for future generation sky surveys. Key words: Cosmology: large-scale structure – Gravitation: Equivalence Principle test iii Sammanfattning Ekvivalensprincipen (EP) ¨ar det mest fundamentala konceptet inom Einsteins all- m¨anrelativistiska gravitationsteori (GR) som f¨or tillf¨allet anv¨ands som den ledan- de teorin inom modern kosmologi f¨or att beskriva den dynamiska utvecklingen av universum. Efter observationerna av den till synes accelererande expansionen av universum r˚ader konsensus f¨or modeller som antar existensen av en teoretisk “m¨ork energi”-komponent. Det finns en obekv¨am klyfta mellan f¨oruts¨agelsen av denna komponent fr˚ankvantf¨altsteoretiska argument och v¨ardet h¨arlett fr˚anex- pansionstakten som skapar sp¨anning g¨allande giltigheten av GR som en precis te- ori av kosmologisk modellering. D˚aEP ¨ar en v¨asentlig del av GR, existerar ett behov av att bidra med fler genomg˚aende tester av dess implikationer. F¨or tillf¨allet ¨ar ¨overtygelsen f¨or EP fr¨amst baserad p˚arigor¨osa tester utf¨orda inom v˚argalax n¨arhet. Det ¨ar d¨arf¨or intressant att utforska EP p˚ast¨orre skalor, d¨ar kosmologiska e↵ekter kan beaktas, f¨or att ut¨oka v˚arf¨orst˚aelse av dessa problem. Idennatesunders¨oker vi m¨ojligheten att testa EP genom att anv¨anda data av spektral f¨ordr¨ojning f¨or gammablixtar kombinerat med data av Shapiro-tidsf¨ordr¨oj- ning h¨arlett fr˚anuniversums storskaliga materief¨ordelning. Vi motiverar en modell f¨or den kosmologiska Shapiro-tidsf¨ordr¨ojningen som beskrivs av de gravitationella potentialfluktuationerna av den storskaliga strukturen. Vi visar att ett ¨overtygande test kr¨aver en detaljerad beskrivning av dessa fluktuationer ¨over hela propagationen mellan gammablixtk¨allan och observat¨oren. Aven¨ om v˚ardata i detta arbete saknar den kvalitet som beh¨ovs f¨or att s¨atta nya begr¨ansningar p˚aEP-¨overtr¨adelse ¨ar v˚art test lovande f¨or framtida generationers kosmologiska data. Nyckelord: Kosmologi: storskalig struktur – Gravitation: test av Ekvivalensprin- cipen iv Preface This thesis is the result of nine months of work from February 2019 to November 2019 at the division of Cosmology, Particle Astrophysics and Strings at the Physics Department of Stockholm University. The work has been carried out under the supervision of Jens Jasche. Outline In Chapter 1 we introduce the context in which a cosmological Equivalence Prin- ciple (EP) test is relevant. In Chapter 2 we provide a background on the basic physics used in this work by introducing concepts from cosmological and gravita- tional physics. In Chapter 3 we detail the theory for the type of test we use in this thesis. In Chapter 4 we apply the knowledge of the previous chapters to test the EP. Lastly, in Chapter 5 we summarise our work and provide conclusions for future research. Acknowledgements My eternal gratitude goes out to my supervisor Jens Jasche who have guided me through this work and very generously o↵ered me his time to advise on all aspects of being an aspiring researcher. Additionally I want to thank Adam Johansson Andrews for assisting me and making my time spent in the research group a very pleasant one. I also would like to thank my KTH supervisor Mattias Blennow for taking the time to read several drafts and providing valuable suggestions for improvements. Most importantly I want to thank my family: My mother G¨ulsen; my father Torbj¨orn; and my brother Deniz for their endless support during my 5 years at the KTH Engineering Physics programme. v vi Contents Abstract.................................... iii Sammanfattning ............................... iv Preface v Contents vii 1 Introduction 1 2 Background 3 2.1 Theexpandinguniverse ........................ 3 2.2 The large-scale structure of the universe . 4 2.2.1 Growth of large-scale structure . 5 2.3 Correlation functions and the Power spectrum . 6 2.4 TheEquivalencePrinciple ....................... 7 2.5 Post-Newtonian formalism . 7 3 Cosmological Shapiro Delay 9 3.1 The Shapiro time delay e↵ect..................... 10 3.1.1 Shapiro delay in cosmology . 11 3.2 Testing the WEP with cosmological Shapiro delay . 12 3.2.1 Quantifying WEP violation using γ . 12 3.2.2 Outline and approach . 13 3.3 Behaviour of cosmological Shapiro delay . 15 3.3.1 Gaussian Random Fields . 15 3.3.2 Dark matter simulation . 20 4 Testing the Weak Equivalence Principle 23 4.1 SDSS/BORG data . 23 4.2 Analysis – Data & Method . 27 4.2.1 Model.............................. 28 4.2.2 Mock data . 30 4.3 Results.................................. 33 vii viii Contents 4.4 Discussion................................ 36 5 Summary and conclusions 39 Bibliography 40 Chapter 1 Introduction Arguably the most fundamental question in all of science regards the creation of our universe. The study of physics, and in particular cosmology, attempts to explain how our universe developed from a hot and dense state after the Big Bang to the universe that we observe today. Much of the developments made in cosmology have been a direct result of the introduction of Einstein’s theory of General Relativity (GR) some century ago [1]. Since then, tremendous developments in cosmological theory coupled with groundbreaking observations have rapidly turned the field from largely philosophical into a flourishing science. Although the successes are plentiful, some aspects of our understanding have stagnated in the last couple of decades. The consensus standard model of cosmology, the ⇤CDM model, is currently the most successful model able to account for a wide set of cosmological precision observational tests of, e.g., the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and the large-scale distribution of galaxies [2]. The model is associated with a parameteri- sation that assumes that roughly 95% of the contents of the universe is of unknown origin. Roughly 70% is attributed to the driving force of the observed accelerating expansion of the universe [3, 4], called dark energy. In this model, the leading theory for dark energy is the cosmological constant, ⇤. Despite the fact that the cosmological constant holds a prominent role in cosmology, on a fundamental level it is poorly understood. One of the bigger issues with the ⇤CDM model is that quantum field theory predicts a “cosmological constant” that should be 120 orders of magnitude larger than what is currently observed. This is referred to as the cosmological constant problem [5]. The foundation of the ⇤CDM model is that the governing physics of gravitation in the universe can be described by GR. Naturally issues such as the cosmological constant problem justifies a concern of whether the reliance on GR might be detri- mental to understanding the true source of dark energy. There have been attempts to explain the observation of the accelerating expansion through modifications of GR and alternative metric theories of gravity without a successful breakthrough [6]. The fact that GR is a classical theory and thus incompatible with quantum 1 2 Chapter 1. Introduction mechanics [7] might suggest that many of the existing problems in cosmology today could only be solved by a theory which unifies the classical and quantum realms through a theory of quantum gravity. Although GR has passed a heap of observational tests, it is of highest relevance to continue testing the theory in light of the discussed inconsistencies. Among the more important tests involve that of the Equivalence Principle (EP).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Relativity and Fundamental Physics
    Relativity and Fundamental Physics Sergei Kopeikin (1,2,*) 1) Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri, 322 Physics Building., Columbia, MO 65211, USA 2) Siberian State University of Geosystems and Technology, Plakhotny Street 10, Novosibirsk 630108, Russia Abstract Laser ranging has had a long and significant role in testing general relativity and it continues to make advance in this field. It is important to understand the relation of the laser ranging to other branches of fundamental gravitational physics and their mutual interaction. The talk overviews the basic theoretical principles underlying experimental tests of general relativity and the recent major achievements in this field. Introduction Modern theory of fundamental interactions relies heavily upon two strong pillars both created by Albert Einstein – special and general theory of relativity. Special relativity is a cornerstone of elementary particle physics and the quantum field theory while general relativity is a metric- based theory of gravitational field. Understanding the nature of the fundamental physical interactions and their hierarchic structure is the ultimate goal of theoretical and experimental physics. Among the four known fundamental interactions the most important but least understood is the gravitational interaction due to its weakness in the solar system – a primary experimental laboratory of gravitational physicists for several hundred years. Nowadays, general relativity is a canonical theory of gravity used by astrophysicists to study the black holes and astrophysical phenomena in the early universe. General relativity is a beautiful theoretical achievement but it is only a classic approximation to deeper fundamental nature of gravity. Any possible deviation from general relativity can be a clue to new physics (Turyshev, 2015).
    [Show full text]
  • New Experiments in Gravitational Physics
    St. John Fisher College Fisher Digital Publications Physics Faculty/Staff Publications Physics 2014 New Experiments in Gravitational Physics Munawar Karim St. John Fisher College, [email protected] Ashfaque H. Bokhari King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Follow this and additional works at: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/physics_facpub Part of the Physics Commons How has open access to Fisher Digital Publications benefited ou?y Publication Information Karim, Munawar and Bokhari, Ashfaque H. (2014). "New Experiments in Gravitational Physics." EPJ Web of Conferences 75, 05001-05001-p.10. Please note that the Publication Information provides general citation information and may not be appropriate for your discipline. To receive help in creating a citation based on your discipline, please visit http://libguides.sjfc.edu/citations. This document is posted at https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/physics_facpub/29 and is brought to you for free and open access by Fisher Digital Publications at St. John Fisher College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. New Experiments in Gravitational Physics Abstract We propose experiments to examine and extend interpretations of the Einstein field equations. Experiments encompass the fields of astrophysics, quantum properties of the gravity field, gravitational effects on quantum electrodynamic phenomena and coupling of spinors to gravity. As an outcome of this work we were able to derive the temperature of the solar corona. Disciplines Physics Comments Proceedings from the Fifth International Symposium on Experimental Gravitation in Nanchang, China, July 8-13, 2013. Copyright is owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences in EPJ Web of Conferences in 2014. Article is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20147405001.
    [Show full text]
  • Static Spherically Symmetric Black Holes in Weak F(T)-Gravity
    universe Article Static Spherically Symmetric Black Holes in Weak f (T)-Gravity Christian Pfeifer 1,*,† and Sebastian Schuster 2,† 1 Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity—ZARM, University of Bremen, Am Fallturm 2, 28359 Bremen, Germany 2 Ústav Teoretické Fyziky, Matematicko-Fyzikální Fakulta, Univerzita Karlova, V Holešoviˇckách2, 180 00 Praha 8, Czech Republic; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] † These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: With the advent of gravitational wave astronomy and first pictures of the “shadow” of the central black hole of our milky way, theoretical analyses of black holes (and compact objects mimicking them sufficiently closely) have become more important than ever. The near future promises more and more detailed information about the observable black holes and black hole candidates. This information could lead to important advances on constraints on or evidence for modifications of general relativity. More precisely, we are studying the influence of weak teleparallel perturbations on general relativistic vacuum spacetime geometries in spherical symmetry. We find the most general family of spherically symmetric, static vacuum solutions of the theory, which are candidates for describing teleparallel black holes which emerge as perturbations to the Schwarzschild black hole. We compare our findings to results on black hole or static, spherically symmetric solutions in teleparallel gravity discussed in the literature, by comparing the predictions for classical observables such as the photon sphere, the perihelion shift, the light deflection, and the Shapiro delay. On the basis of these observables, we demonstrate that among the solutions we found, there exist spacetime geometries that lead to much weaker bounds on teleparallel gravity than those found earlier.
    [Show full text]
  • Radio and High-Energy Emission of Pulsars Revealed by General Relativity Q
    A&A 639, A75 (2020) Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202037979 & c Q. Giraud and J. Pétri 2020 Astrophysics Radio and high-energy emission of pulsars revealed by general relativity Q. Giraud and J. Pétri Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg, UMR 7550, 67000 Strasbourg, France e-mail: [email protected] Received 18 March 2020 / Accepted 14 May 2020 ABSTRACT Context. According to current pulsar emission models, photons are produced within their magnetosphere and current sheet, along their separatrix, which is located inside and outside the light cylinder. Radio emission is favoured in the vicinity of the polar caps, whereas the high-energy counterpart is presumably enhanced in regions around the light cylinder, whether this is the magnetosphere and/or the wind. However, the gravitational effect on their light curves and spectral properties has only been sparsely researched. Aims. We present a method for simulating the influence that the gravitational field of the neutron star has on its emission properties according to the solution of a rotating dipole evolving in a slowly rotating neutron star metric described by general relativity. Methods. We numerically computed photon trajectories assuming a background Schwarzschild metric, applying our method to neu- tron star radiation mechanisms such as thermal emission from hot spots and non-thermal magnetospheric emission by curvature radiation. We detail the general-relativistic effects onto observations made by a distant observer. Results. Sky maps are computed using the vacuum electromagnetic field of a general-relativistic rotating dipole, extending previous works obtained for the Deutsch solution. We compare Newtonian results to their general-relativistic counterpart.
    [Show full text]
  • The Confrontation Between General Relativity and Experiment
    The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment Clifford M. Will Department of Physics University of Florida Gainesville FL 32611, U.S.A. email: [email protected]fl.edu http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~cmw/ Abstract The status of experimental tests of general relativity and of theoretical frameworks for analyzing them are reviewed and updated. Einstein’s equivalence principle (EEP) is well supported by experiments such as the E¨otv¨os experiment, tests of local Lorentz invariance and clock experiments. Ongoing tests of EEP and of the inverse square law are searching for new interactions arising from unification or quantum gravity. Tests of general relativity at the post-Newtonian level have reached high precision, including the light deflection, the Shapiro time delay, the perihelion advance of Mercury, the Nordtvedt effect in lunar motion, and frame-dragging. Gravitational wave damping has been detected in an amount that agrees with general relativity to better than half a percent using the Hulse–Taylor binary pulsar, and a growing family of other binary pulsar systems is yielding new tests, especially of strong-field effects. Current and future tests of relativity will center on strong gravity and gravitational waves. arXiv:1403.7377v1 [gr-qc] 28 Mar 2014 1 Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 Tests of the Foundations of Gravitation Theory 6 2.1 The Einstein equivalence principle . .. 6 2.1.1 Tests of the weak equivalence principle . .. 7 2.1.2 Tests of local Lorentz invariance . .. 9 2.1.3 Tests of local position invariance . 12 2.2 TheoreticalframeworksforanalyzingEEP. ....... 16 2.2.1 Schiff’sconjecture ................................ 16 2.2.2 The THǫµ formalism .............................
    [Show full text]
  • Special and General Relativity (PHZ 4601/5606 – Fall 2018) Prof. Bernd A. Berg Phones: 850-273-0001, 850-644-6246, E-Mail: Bberg at Fsu Dot Edu Office: 615 Keen
    Special and General Relativity (PHZ 4601/5606 { Fall 2018) Prof. Bernd A. Berg Phones: 850-273-0001, 850-644-6246, e-mail: bberg at fsu dot edu Office: 615 Keen • Class: MWF 9:05{9:55 am at HCB 0209. First Class August 27. • Office hours: Wednesdays 10:30-11:45 am and Thursdays 1:45-3:15 pm, and by ap- pointment (send e-mail). • Grader: Juan Mejia Marin, e-mail jjm17c at my dot fsu dot edu, Office hours Thursdays 5:15{7 pm at 614 Keen, and by appointment (send e-mail). • Midterm: Wednesday, October 17, 2018. • Test on Homework (tentative): Friday November 30. • Final: Thursday, December 11, 10 am { 12 pm at HCB 0209. Required Text: Wolfgang Rindler, Relativity, Special, General and Cosmological, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, New York, 2006. Overview and Goal The course gives an introduction to the fundamentals of space, time and matter. As a systematic, mathematically rigorous treatment is beyond the scope of an undergraduate course, we intend in essence to learn by explaining (often omitting proofs) sections from the textbook by Rindler. Bring the book to the lectures! Under the title Essential Relativity the book started off as a one semester course for senior undergraduate students, but has since then been expanded to a two semester course. Therefore, we will have to omit about half of the material. For an overview see the tentative schedule at the end of this syllabus and compare it with the preface and the table of contents of the textbook. After this course students should be able to explain the fundamental ideas of Special Relativity (SR) and General Relativity (GR) and master to solve by themselves standard problems to which the methods apply.
    [Show full text]
  • Pos(GMC8)062 ∗ [email protected] Speaker
    Gravitational lensing along multiple light paths as a PoS(GMC8)062 probe of physics beyond Einstein gravity Hideki Asada∗ Faculty of Science and Technology, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki 036-8561, Japan E-mail: [email protected] The light propagation is reexamined, allowing for various models of modied gravity. We clarify the dependence of the time delay (and induced frequency shift) on modied gravity models and investigate how to distinguish those models, when light propagates in static spherically symmetric spacetimes parameterized to express modied gravity. Implications to gravitational lensing are mentioned. The Manchester Microlensing Conference: The 12th International Conference and ANGLES Microlensing Workshop January 21-25 2008 Manchester, UK ∗Speaker. c Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Licence. http://pos.sissa.it/ Gravitational lensing by modied gravity Hideki Asada 1. Introduction A certain modication, in whatever form, in the standard cosmological model, is strongly suggested by recent observations such as the magnitude-redshift relation of type Ia supernovae (SNIa) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy by WMAP. We are forced to add a new component into the energy-momentum tensor in the Einstein equation or modify the theory of general relativity itself. Indeed, plenty of models have been proposed, such as scalar tensor theories, string theories, higher dimensional scenarios and quantum gravity. Therefore, it is of great importance to observationally test these models. PoS(GMC8)062 The theory of general relativity has passed classical tests, such as the deection of light, the perihelion shift of Mercury and the Shapiro time delay, and also a systematic test using the remarkable binary pulsar PSR 1913+16.
    [Show full text]
  • Pulse Arrival-Times from Binary Pulsars with Rotating Black Hole Companions
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by CERN Document Server Submitted Ap. J. Lett. Pulse Arrival-Times from Binary Pulsars with Rotating Black Hole Companions Pablo Laguna1 and Alex Wolszczan2 Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Center for Gravitational Physics & Geometry Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802 ABSTRACT We present a study of the gravitational time delay of arrival of signals from binary pulsar systems with rotating black hole companions. In particular, we investigate the strength of this effect (Shapiro delay) as a function of the inclination, eccentricity and period of the orbit, as well as the mass and angular momentum of the black hole. This study is based on direct numerical integration of null geodesics in a Kerr background geometry. We find that, for binaries with sufficiently high orbital inclinations (> 89o) and compact companion masses > 10M , the effect arising from the rotation of the black hole in the system amounts to a microsecond–level variation of the arrival times of the pulsar pulses. If measurable, this variation could provide a unique signature for the presence of a rotating black hole in a binary pulsar system. Subject headings: pulsars: binaries, relativity Binary pulsars are excellent laboratories for testing General Relativity (GR) and other theories of gravity. Long-term timing observations of relativistic binaries, such as PSR B1913+16 (Hulse & Taylor 1975), yield highly precise measurements of post-Keplerian orbital parameters of the pulsar. In particular, observations of the the orbital decay of PSR B1913+16 induced by gravitational radiative effects have verified the validity of GR to within 0.5% (Taylor & Weisberg 1989).
    [Show full text]
  • Physics 129 LECTURE 4 January 16, 2014 SR + QM Spin & Statistics
    Physics 129 LECTURE 4 January 16, 2014 ● Special Relativity Doppler shift ● SR + QM ⇒ Spin & Statistics & PCT ● Introduction to General Relativity: In accelerating reference frames there are “pseudoforces” Fpseudo = ma, where a is the acceleration of the frame. General Relativity: gravity is a pseudoforce that is eliminated in inertial (freely falling) reference frames. ● Classic GR tests: precession, light deflection, redshift ● GR passes much more precise tests ● GR is essential for the GPS system - so, for our everyday lives! ● Black Holes in the Universe Thursday, January 16, 14 Lorentz transformations and the Doppler effect The Lorentz transformation between inertial reference frame (x,t) and inertial frame (x’,t’) moving at speed v in the x-direction is (setting c = 1 and writing v/c = β) t’ = γ(t − βx), x’ = γ(x − βt), y’ = y, z’ = z Since all 4-vectors transform the same way, the Lorentz transformation between the same frames for the energy-momentum 4-vector Pμ = (E,p) is E’ = γ(E − βpx), px’ = γ(px − βE), py’ = py, pz’ = pz Since |p| = p = E for photons, this says that for a photon moving in the x-direction E ’ = γE (1 − β) = E [(1 − β)/(1 + β)]½ . Since E = hf where h = Planck’s constant and f is the frequency, the frequencies are related by f ’ = f [(1 − β)/(1 + β)]½ ≈ f (1 − β), which is 1st order in velocity β. Frequency decreases, so wavelength λ = c /f increases, or “red-shifts” λ’ ≈ λ (1 + β) so Δλ ≡ λ’ − λ ≈ λ β and Δλ/λ ≈ β. (We will derive a different formula in the expanding universe.) For a photon moving in the transverse (y or z) direction, the only effect is time dilation, and the redshift is second order in velocity β.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Positioning System Receivers and Relativity
    INST. OF STAND & TEf" fcT'L f.:]f. NIST IIIDS blfiT17 PUBLICATIONS United States Department of Commerce Technology Administration Nisr National Institute of Standards and Technology N/ST Technical Note 1385 NIST Technical Note 1385 Global Position System Receivers and Relativity Neil Ashby Marc Weiss Time and Frequency Division Physics Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology 325 Broadway Boulder, Colorado 80303-3328 March 1999 '4rES U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, William M. Daley, Secretary TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATION, Gary R. Bachula, Acting Under Secretary for Technology NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, Raymond G. Kamnier, Director National Institute of Standards and Technology Technical Note Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol., Tech. Note 1385, 52 pages (March 1999) CODEN:NTNOEF U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1999 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 . Contents 1 Introduction 1 2. Theory 2 2.1 Pseudorange 2 2.2 Phase Time 2 2.3 Relevant Relativity 3 2.4 Common Misunderstandings 4 2.5 User Corrections 6 2.6 Relativistic Doppler Effect and Use of the GPS Carrier 7 2.7 Rotation Matrix 8 3. Time Tagging at Receiver 9 3.1 Time Tagging at Receiver— General Prescription 9 3.2 Examples 11 Example 3.21 Multi- Channel Receiver, Time Tagging at Receiver 12 Example 3.211 Erroneous Use of ECEF Coordinates 16 Example 3.212 Iteration With a Succession of Inertial Frames 16 Example 3.213 The Benefit of Better Initialization 17 4. Time Tagging at Transmitter 18 4.1 Code Boundary Measurements 18 4.2 Phase Time 19 4.3 Accounting for Receiver Motion 20 4.4 Time Tagging at Transmitter—General Prescription 22 4.5 Examples 24 Example 4.51 Time Tagging at Transmitter 24 Example 4.52 Time Tagging at Transmitter, Neglecting Doppler Corrections 29 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Feasibility of Measuring the Shapiro Time Delay Over Meter-Scale Distances
    Syracuse University SURFACE Physics College of Arts and Sciences 2009 Feasibility of Measuring the Shapiro Time Delay over Meter-Scale Distances Stefan Ballmer Syracuse University S. Marka Syracuse University P. Shawhan University of Maryland Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/phy Part of the Physics Commons Recommended Citation Ballmer, Stefan; Marka, S.; and Shawhan, P., "Feasibility of Measuring the Shapiro Time Delay over Meter- Scale Distances" (2009). Physics. 12. https://surface.syr.edu/phy/12 This Working Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts and Sciences at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Physics by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Feasibility of measuring the Shapiro time delay over meter-scale distances S Ballmer1;2;3,SMarka´ 4 and P Shawhan5 1Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA 2TAMA - National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan 3LIGO - California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA 4Columbia University in the City of New York, New York, NY 10027, USA 5University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Abstract. The time delay of light as it passes by a massive object, first calculated by Shapiro in 1964, is a hallmark of the curvature of space-time. To date, all measurements of the Shapiro time delay have been made over solar-system distance scales. We show that the new generation of kilometer-scale laser interferometers being constructed as gravitational wave detectors, in particular Advanced LIGO, will in principle be sensitive enough to measure variations in the Shapiro time delay produced by a suitably designed rotating object placed near the laser beam.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Uniform Acceleration
    Physics 139 Relativity Relativity Notes 2003 G. F. SMOOT Oce 398 Le Conte DepartmentofPhysics, University of California, Berkeley, USA 94720 Notes to b e found at: http://aether.lbl.gov/www/classes/p139/homework/homework.html 1 Uniform Acceleration This material is to prepare a transition towards General Relativity via the Equivalence Principle by rst understanding uniform acceleration. The Equivalence Principle stated in a simple form: Equivalence Principle: A uniform gravitational eld is equivalent to a uniform acceleration. This is not very precise statement and one lesson wehave learned in Sp ecial Relativity is the need to b e precise in our statements, de nitions, and use of co ordinates. We will come to a more precise statement of the Equivalence Principle in terms like at a space-time p oint with gravitational acceleration ~g there is a tangent reference frame undergoing uniform acceleration that is equivalent. This is similar to the instantaneous rest frame of Sp ecial Relativity in the case of an ob ject undergoing acceleration. We rst need to understand carefully what is a uniform acceleration reference frame, whichwe will do in steps. First imagine a reference frame { a rigid framework of rulers and clo cks, our standard reference frame { undergoing uniform acceleration. In classical nonrelativistic physics we can imagine a rigid framework to whichwe can apply a force which will cause it to move with constant acceleration. However, in Sp ecial Relativity no causal impulse can travel faster than the sp eed of light, thus the frame work cannot b e in nitely rigid. When the force causing the acceleration is rst applied, the p oint where the force is rst applied b egins to accelerate rst and as the casual impulse moves out, the other p ortions join in the acceleration.
    [Show full text]