Gravito-Magnetism in one-body and two-body systems: Theory and Experiments

Abstract

We survey theoretical and experimental/observational results on general-relativistic spin (rotation) effects in binary systems. A detailed discussion is given of the two-body Kepler problem and its first post-Newtonian generalization, including spin effects. Spin effects result from gravitational spin-orbit and spin-spin interactions (analogous to the corresponding case in quantum electrodynamics) and these effects are shown to manifest themselves in two ways: (a) precession of the spinning bodies per se and (b) precession of the orbit (which is further broke down into precessions of the argument of the periastron, the longitude of the ascending node and the inclination of the orbit). We also note the ambiguity that arises from use of the terminology frame-dragging, de Sitter precession and Lense-Thirring precession, in contrast to the unambiguous reference to spin-orbit and spin-spin precessions. Turning to one-body experiments, we discuss the recent results of the GP-B experiment, the Ciufolini-Pavlis Lageos experiment and lunar-laser ranging measurements (which actually involve three bodies). Two-body systems inevitably involve astronomical observations and we survey results obtained from the first binary pulsar system, a more recently discovered binary system and, finally, the highly significant discovery of a double-pulsar binary system.

Invited Lecture, in "Atom Optics and Space Physics", Proc. of Course CLXVIII of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi", Varenna, Italy, 2007, ed. E. Arimondo, W. Ertmer and W. Schleich, in press; 15 pages

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• A Test of General Relativity Using the LARES and LAGEOS Satellites and a GRACE Earth's Gravity Model
• An Improved Test of the General Relativistic Effect of Frame-Dragging Using the LARES and LAGEOS Satellites
• A tale of analogies: gravitomagnetic effects, rotating sources, observers and all that
• Recent Attempts to Measure the General Relativistic Lense-Thirring Effect with Natural and Artificial Bodies in the Solar System