English

Constraining Mach's principle with high precision astrometry

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics 2021-05-13 v1 Astrophysics of Galaxies General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

Abstract

The analyses of high precision astrometric surveys, such as Gaia, implicitly assume a modern version of Mach's Principle: the local inertial frame of our Solar System should be non-rotating in the frame of distant quasars. On the contrary, Einstein's General Relativity allows a rotating universe. Thus, relaxing the assumption of Mach's Principle will allow placing a constraint on a class of rotating cosmologies by comparing high precision astrometry of quasars with well-measured solar system orbits. Constraining global rotation will test General Relativity, inflation, and the isotropy of cosmological initial conditions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2105.05337,
  title  = {Constraining Mach's principle with high precision astrometry},
  author = {Istvan Szapudi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2105.05337},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

4 pages, Essay written for the Gravity Research Foundation 2021 Awards for Essays on Gravitation

R2 v1 2026-06-24T02:00:52.268Z