English

RadioAstron gravitational redshift experiment: status update

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics 2016-05-20 v1 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

Abstract

A test of a cornerstone of general relativity, the gravitational redshift effect, is currently being conducted with the RadioAstron spacecraft, which is on a highly eccentric orbit around Earth. Using ground radio telescopes to record the spacecraft signal, synchronized to its ultra-stable on-board H-maser, we can probe the varying flow of time on board with unprecedented accuracy. The observations performed so far, currently being analyzed, have already allowed us to measure the effect with a relative accuracy of 4×1044\times10^{-4}. We expect to reach 2.5×1052.5\times10^{-5} with additional observations in 2016, an improvement of almost a magnitude over the 40-year old result of the GP-A mission.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1605.05832,
  title  = {RadioAstron gravitational redshift experiment: status update},
  author = {D. A. Litvinov and U. Bach and N. Bartel and K. G. Belousov and M. Bietenholz and A. V. Biriukov and G. Cimo and D. A. Duev and L. I. Gurvits and A. V. Gusev and R. Haas and V. L. Kauts and B. Z. Kanevsky and A. V. Kovalenko and G. Kronschnabl and V. V. Kulagin and M. Lindqvist and G. Molera Calves and A. Neidhardt and C. Ploetz and S. V. Pogrebenko and N. K. Porayko and V. N. Rudenko and A. I. Smirnov and K. V. Sokolovsky and V. A. Stepanyants and J. Yang and M. V. Zakhvatkin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1605.05832},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

Submitted to the 14th Marcel Grossmann Meeting Proceedings

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