LUNAR LASER RANGING TESTS OF THE EQUIVALENCE PRINCIPLE WITH THE EARTH AND MOON

DOI10.1142/S021827180901500XzbMATH Open1168.83302arXivgr-qc/0507083WikidataQ59411703 ScholiaQ59411703MaRDI QIDQ3395541FDOQ3395541

Authors: James G. Williams, Slava G. Turyshev, Dale H. Boggs 

Publication date: 5 September 2009

Published in: International Journal of Modern Physics D (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: A primary objective of the Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) experiment is to provide precise observations of the lunar orbit that contribute to a wide range of science investigations. Time series of the highly accurate measurements of the distance between the Earth and Moon provide unique information used to determine whether, in accordance with the Equivalence Principle (EP), both of these celestial bodies are falling towards the Sun at the same rate, despite their different masses, compositions, and gravitational self-energies. Current LLR solutions give $(-1.0pm1.4)imes10^{-13}$ for any possible inequality in the ratios of the gravitational and inertial masses for the Earth and Moon, $Delta(M_G/M_I)$. This result, in combination with laboratory experiments on the weak equivalence principle, yields a strong equivalence principle (SEP) test of $Delta(M_G/M_I{)}_{tSEP}=(-2.0pm2.0)imes10^{-13}$. Such an accurate result allows other tests of gravitational theories. The result of the SEP test translates into a value for the corresponding SEP violation parameter $eta$ of $(4.4pm4.5)imes10^{-4}$, where $$ and both $gamma$ and $$ are parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) parameters. The PPN parameter $$ is determined to be $$. Focusing on the tests of the EP, we discuss the existing data, and characterize the modeling and data analysis techniques. The robustness of the LLR solutions is demonstrated with several different approaches that are presented in the text. We emphasize that near-term improvements in the LLR ranging accuracy will further advance the research of relativistic gravity in the solar system, and, most notably, will continue to provide highly accurate tests of the Equivalence Principle.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0507083

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zbMATH Keywords

equivalence principlelunar laser rangingtests of general relativity

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Equations of motion in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C10) Galactic and stellar dynamics (85A05) Observational and experimental questions in relativity and gravitational theory (83B05)

Cites Work

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• IMPROVING LLR TESTS OF GRAVITATIONAL THEORY
• 30 years of lunar laser ranging and the gravitational interaction
• Testing the equivalence principle: why and how?
• Long-range tests of the equivalence principle

Cited In (23)

• Test of the equivalence principle for galaxy's dark matter by lunar laser ranging
• Can scale-dependent cosmology alleviate the \(H_0\) tension?
• Tests of gravity using lunar laser ranging
• CONSTRAINT ON INTERMEDIATE-RANGE GRAVITY FROM EARTH–SATELLITE AND LUNAR ORBITER MEASUREMENTS, AND LUNAR LASER RANGING
• Testing nonlocal gravity with Lunar Laser Ranging
• Long range interactions in cosmology: implications for neutrinos
• Challenges for emergent gravity
• Scalar fields near compact objects: resummation versus UV completion
• Numerical estimation of the sensitivity of INPOP planetary ephemerides to general relativity parameters
• No-hair theorem in the wake of Event Horizon Telescope
• New perturbative method for solving the gravitational N-body problem in the general theory of relativity
• Finding the Schwarzschild metric from gravity's exterior and interior effacement algebra
• Geodesy and relativity
• On the foundations of general relativistic celestial mechanics
• Scalar gravitational wave signals from core collapse in massive scalar-tensor gravity with triple-scalar interactions
• A particle's perspective on screening mechanisms
• The minimally extended Varying Speed of Light (meVSL)
• Limitations to testing the equivalence principle with satellite laser ranging
• Relativistic tests with lunar laser ranging
• IMPROVING LLR TESTS OF GRAVITATIONAL THEORY
• Lunar laser ranging test of the Nordtvedt parameter and a possible variation in the gravitational constant
• 30 years of lunar laser ranging and the gravitational interaction
• Insight-building models for lunar range and range rate

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