Related papers: LARES/WEBER-SAT, frame-dragging and fundamental ph…
In two previous papers we presented the LARES 2 space experiment aimed at a very accurate test of frame-dragging and at other tests of fundamental physics and measurements of space geodesy and geodynamics. We presented the error sources of…
The LAGEOS 3 (today LARES 2) space experiment was proposed in the eighties by the Physics Department and by the Center of Space Research (CSR) of the University of Texas (UT) at Austin and by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to test and…
The pericenter shift of a binary system represents a suitable observable to test for possible deviations from the Newtonian inverse-square law in favor of new weak interactions between macroscopic objects. We analyzed 13 years of tracking…
Violations of Lorentz Invariance, a cornerstone of modern physics, are predicted by theories of quantum gravity and by extensions of General Relativity involving new vector or tensor fields. In the weak-field limit, such a violation would…
It has been recently proposed to combine the node drifts of the future constellation of 27 Galileo spacecraft together with those of the existing LAGEOS-type satellites to improve the accuracy of the past and ongoing tests of the…
In this paper we preliminarily explore the possibility of designing a dedicated satellite-based mission to measure the general relativistic gravitomagnetic Lense-Thirring effect in the gravitational field of Mars. The focus is on the…
Atomic wave interferometers are tied to a telescope pointing towards a faraway star in a nearly free falling satellite. Such a device is sensitive to the acceleration and the rotation relatively to the local inertial frame and to the tidal…
In the previous paper we have introduced the LARES 2 space experiment. The LARES 2 laser-ranged satellite is planned for a launch in 2019 with the new VEGA C launch vehicle of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), ESA and ELV. The main objectives…
We describe a new space gravitational wave observatory design called LAGRANGE that maintains all important LISA science at about half the cost and with reduced technical risk. It consists of three drag-free spacecraft in the most stable…
The Gravity Probe B (GP-B) satellite experiment will measure the precession of on-board gyroscopes to extraordinary accuracy. Such precessions are predicted by General Relativity (GR), and one component of this precession is the…
We reexamine non-Einsteinian effects observable in the orbital motion of low-orbit artificial Earth satellites. The motivations for doing so are twofold: (i) recent theoretical studies suggest that the correct theory of gravity might…
According to general relativity, a spinning body of mass M and angular momentum S, like a star or a planet, generates a gravitomagnetic field which induces, among other phenomena, also the Lense-Thirring effect, i.e. secular precessions of…
We focus on several models of modified gravity which share the characteristic of leading to perturbations of the Newtonian potential $\propto K_2~r^{-2}$ and $\propto K_3~r^{-3}$. In particular, by using existing long data records of the…
On February 13th 2012, the LARES satellite of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) was launched into orbit with the qualification flight of the new VEGA launcher of the European Space Agency (ESA). The payload was released very accurately in the…
In this paper we present a rather extensive error budget for the difference of the perigees of a pair of supplementary SLR satellites aimed to the detection of the Lense-Thirring effect.
Analogous to magnetism in electrodynamics, it is gravitomagnetism in relativistic gravity. Since gravity determines locally inertial frames, in general relativity (GR) and other relativistic theories of gravity, frame-dragging with source…
Gravitomagnetism characterize phenomena in the weak field limit within the context of rotating systems. These are mainly manifested in the geodetic and Lense-Thirring effects. The geodetic effect describes the precession of the spin of a…
This paper discusses new Fundamental physics experiment that will test relativistic gravity at the accuracy better than the effects of the second order in the gravitational field strength, ~G^2. The Laser Astrometric Test Of Relativity…
The Gravity Probe B (GP-B) satellite experiment will measure the precession of on-board gyroscopes to extraordinary accuracy. Such precessions are predicted by General Relativity (GR), and one component of this precession is the…
Strong theoretical arguments suggest that a breakdown of Lorentz Invariance could arise under some very particular conditions. From an experimental point of view, it is important to test the Local Lorentz Invariance with ever greater…