Theory Group Final Defense

Phuc Nguyen, UT-Austin

"Measuring frame-dragging with LARES"

3:00pm, RLM 9.222

Abstract: We summarize a laser-ranged satellite test of frame dragging around Earth, a prediction of General Relativity (GR), and then describe the estimation of thermal thrust, an important perturbation affecting the accuracy of the test. The experiment involves measuring the nodal precession (by laser ranging) of a constellation of satellites (LAGEOS-LARES). These satellites are known to undergo an anomalous along-track force hypothesized to be due to thermal effect. We demonstrate with a detailed model that this is plausibly so. We discuss future options for testing GR based on ring lasers.