Related papers: Introducing Relativity in Global Navigation Satell…
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S. space-based radionavigation system that provides reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services to civilian users on a continuous worldwide basis -- freely available to all. GPS provides…
All experiments to date are in remarkable agreement with the predictions of Einstein's theory of gravity, General Relativity. Besides the classical tests, involving light deflection, orbit precession, signal delay, and the gravitational…
4 emitters broadcasting an increasing electromagnetic signal generate a system of relativistic coordinates for the space-time, called emission coordinates. Their physical realization requires an apparatus similar to the one of the Global…
A relativistic positioning system is a physical realization of a coordinate system consisting in four clocks in arbitrary motion broadcasting their proper times. The basic elements of the relativistic positioning systems are presented in…
We present here a method for the relativistic positioning in spacetime based on the reception of pulses from sources of electromagnetic signals whose worldline is known. The method is based on the use of a four-dimensional grid covering the…
Omitting the motivations and historical connections, and also the detailed calculations, I state succinctly the principles that determine the relativistic idealization of a GPS system. These determine the results that Ashby presents in his…
The Global Positioning System (GPS) provides an excellent educational example as to how the theory of general relativity is put into practice and becomes part of our everyday life. This paper gives a short and instructive derivation of an…
On August 22, 2014, the satellites GSAT-0201 and GSAT-0202 of the European GNSS Galileo were unintentionally launched into eccentric orbits. Unexpectedly, this has become a fortunate scientific opportunity since the onboard hydrogen masers…
Current GNSS systems rely on global reference frames which are fixed to the Earth (via the ground stations) so their precision and stability in time are limited by our knowledge of the Earth dynamics. These drawbacks could be avoided by…
Considering the OPERA neutrino-velocity measurement from the point of view of a GPS satellite we find that the detector at Gran Sasso has a velocity component in the order of $10^{-5}c$ towards the neutrino emission location at CERN. On…
Some authors have defended the claim that one needs to be able to define 'physical coordinate systems' and 'observables' in order to make sense of general relativity. Moreover, in Rovelli (Physical Review D, 65(4), 044017 2002), Rovelli…
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…
In the global positioning system (GPS) satellites, the earth-centered, earth-fixed (ECEF) reference frame is used for calculations. In the application of the theory of special relativity to GPS satellites, one must use the ECEF reference…
We consider the impact of a power-law correction to the Newtonian potential, inspired by ungravity or $f(R)$ extensions of the Standard Model, and draw conclusions on the possibility of measuring the relevant parameters through observables…
After a short review of prominent properties of gravitational waves and the newly born gravitational astronomy, we focus on theoretical aspects. Analytic approximation methods in general relativity have played a crucial role in the recent…
The general relativistic gravitomagnetic clock effect consists in the fact that two massive test bodies orbiting a central spinning mass in its equatorial plane along two identical circular trajectories, but in opposite directions, take…
We present a variant of a Global Navigation Satellite System called a Relativistic Positioning System (RPS), which is based on emission coordinates. We modelled the RPS dynamics in a space-time around Earth, described by a perturbed…
Recent theoretical works on alternative metric theories of gravity give greater significance to solar-system tests of General Relativity. In particular, it is suggested that the post-Newtonian parameter $\gamma$ ought to be determined with…
A 4-dimensional relativistic positioning system for a general spacetime is constructed by using the so called "emission coordinates". The results apply in a small region around the world line of an accelerated observer carrying a Fermi…
Accurate orbit modeling plays a key role in contemporary and future space missions such as GRACE and its successor GRACE-FO, GNSS, and altimetry missions. To fully exploit the technological capabilities and correctly interpret measurements,…