Foucault pendulum at the south pole - Proposal for an experiment to detect the earth's general relativistic gravitomagnetic field
Abstract
An earth-based variant of the orbiting superconducting-gyroscope suggested by Calloway and Rahman (1982) as a detector of the general-relativistic gravitomagnetic field is proposed. The gyroscope is replaced by a Foucault pendulum linked to an astrometric telescope in a vacuum chamber at the South Pole. The effects of velocity-dependent and position-dependent forces, magnetic forces, frictional damping, Pippard precession, frequency anisotropy, seismic noise, atmospheric refraction, and telescope distortion and tilt are calculated; an accuracy of 10 percent over an observing time of seveal months is predicted; and the need for further laboratory studies to ascertain if the difficulties of the experiment can be overcome is indicated.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- August 1984
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.53.863
- Bibcode:
- 1984PhRvL..53..863B
- Keywords:
-
- Antarctic Regions;
- Geomagnetism;
- Gravitation Theory;
- Gravitational Fields;
- Gyroscopic Pendulums;
- Relativistic Effects;
- Atmospheric Refraction;
- Damping;
- Earth Rotation;
- Fourier Transformation;
- Inertial Coordinates;
- Precession;
- Seismology;
- Geophysics;
- ANTARCTIC REGIONS;
- GEOMAGNETISM;
- GRAVITATION THEORY;
- GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS;
- GYROSCOPIC PENDULUMS;
- RELATIVISTIC EFFECTS;
- ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTION;
- DAMPING;
- EARTH ROTATION;
- FOURIER TRANSFORMATION;
- INERTIAL COORDINATES;
- PRECESSION;
- SEISMOLOGY;
- 04.80.+z