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Conservative evaluation of the uncertainty in the LAGEOS-LAGEOS II Lense-Thirring test

100%

Iorio L.

Open Physics

2010

vol. 8

issue 1

25-32

We deal with the test of the general relativistic gravitomagnetic Lense-Thirring effect currently being conducted in the Earth’s gravitational field with the combined nodes Ω of the laser-ranged geodetic satellites LAGEOS and LAGEOS II. One of the most important sources of systematic uncertainty on the orbits of the LAGEOS satellites, with respect to the Lense-Thirring signature, is the bias due to the even zonal harmonic coefficients J ℓ of the multipolar expansion of the Earth’s geopotential which account for the departures from sphericity of the terrestrial gravitational potential induced by the centrifugal effects of its diurnal rotation. The issue addressed here is: are the so far published evaluations of such a systematic error reliable and realistic? The answer is negative. Indeed, if the difference ΔJ ℓ among the even zonals estimated in different global solutions (EIGEN-GRACE02S, EIGEN-CG03C, GGM02S, GGM03S, ITG-Grace02, ITG-Grace03s, JEM01-RL03B, EGM2008, AIUB-GRACE01S) is assumed for the uncertainties δJ ℓ instead of using their more-or-less calibrated covariances $$ \sigma _{J_\ell } $$, it turns out that the systematic error δμ in the Lense-Thirring measurement is about 3 to 4 times larger than in the evaluations so far published based on the use of the covariances of one model at a time separately, amounting up to 37% for the pair EIGEN-GRACE02S/ITG-Grace03s. The comparison among the other recent GRACE-based models yields bias as large as about 25–30%. The major discrepancies still occur for J 4; J 6 and J 8, which are just to which the zonals the combined LAGEOS/LAGOES II nodes are most sensitive.

Positronium for Antihydrogen Production in the AEGIS Experiment

84%

Consolati G., Aghion S., Amsler C., Bonomi G., Brusa R., Caccia M., Caravita R., Castelli F., Cerchiari G., Comparat D., Demetrio A., Di Noto L., Doser M., Evans C., Fanì M., Ferragut R., Fesel J., Fontana A., Gerber S., Giammarchi M., Gligorova A., Guatieri F., Haider S., Hinterberger A., Holmestad H., Kellerbauer A., Khalidova O., Krasnicky D., Lagomarsino V., Lansonneur P., Lebrun P., Malbrunot C., Mariazzi S., Marton J., Matveev V., Mazzotta Z., Müller S., Nebbia G., Nedelec P., Oberthaler M., Pacifico N., Pagano D., Penasa L., Petracek V., Prelz F., Prevedelli M., Ravelli L., Rienaecker B., Robert J., Røhne O., Rotondi A., Sandaker H., Santoro R., Smestad L., Sorrentino F., Testera G., Tietje I., Widmann E., Yzombard P., Zimmer C., Zmeskal J., Zurlo N.

Acta Physica Polonica A

2017

vol. 132

issue 5

1443-1449

The primary goal of the Antihydrogen Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy (AEGIS) collaboration is to measure for the first time precisely the gravitational acceleration of antihydrogen, H̅, a fundamental issue of contemporary physics, using a beam of antiatoms. Indeed, although indirect arguments have been raised against a different acceleration of antimatter with respect to matter, nevertheless some attempts to formulate quantum theories of gravity, or to unify gravity with the other forces, consider the possibility of a non-identical gravitational interaction between matter and antimatter. We plan to generate H̅ through a charge-exchange reaction between excited Ps and antiprotons coming from the Antiproton Decelerator facility at CERN. It offers the advantage to produce sufficiently cold antihydrogen to make feasible a measurement of gravitational acceleration with reasonable uncertainty (of the order of a few percent). Since the cross-section of the above reaction increases with n⁴, n being the principal quantum number of Ps, it is essential to generate Ps in a highly excited (Rydberg) state. This will occur by means of two laser excitations of Ps emitted from a nanoporous silica target: a first UV laser (at 205 nm) will bring Ps from the ground to the n=3 state; a second laser pulse (tunable in the range 1650-1700 nm) will further excite Ps to the Rydberg state.

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Conservative evaluation of the uncertainty in the LAGEOS-LAGEOS II Lense-Thirring test

Positronium for Antihydrogen Production in the AEGIS Experiment