Gravity Probe 2 Success: Lens Thirring Effect Explained

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the success of Gravity Probe 2 and its demonstration of the Lens Thirring Effect, along with the implications of anomalies in superconducting gyroscope measurements. Participants explore the potential for these anomalies to indicate a much larger force and possibly contribute to a new theory of everything (TOE).

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants assert that Gravity Probe 2 successfully demonstrated the classical Lens Thirring Effect.
  • Others propose that anomalies in the gyroscope measurements could suggest the existence of a force vastly greater than the classical Lens Thirring Effect, potentially leading to a new TOE.
  • Questions arise regarding the publication status of related findings in peer-reviewed journals, with some participants citing specific papers and others expressing skepticism about the availability of such references.
  • A participant references a Stanford University document outlining the challenges faced by Gravity Probe B, questioning the experiment's objectives and its ability to prove frame-dragging due to Earth's rotation.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the implications of the Gravity Probe 2 results and the validity of the associated measurements. There is no consensus on the significance of the findings or their publication status.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include uncertainty about the peer-review status of NASA's final report and the specific methodologies employed in the experiments, which some participants find unclear.

narasimha640
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Hello,

Can someone update me about the success of gravity probe 2 please?

Narasimha!
 
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Are any of these published in peer-reviewed journals?
 
Sure - the Tajmar results have been mentioned in several of his journal papers. EHT is to get an AIP paper out soon - passed 2 levels of peeer review and is at the final stage.
 
Can you give me a reference? I see conference proceedings, but no refereed journals that discuss this.
 
Vanadium 50, I searched the net I cannot see if NASA's final report is published in any peer-reviewed article, so I am not sure if this is a worthwhile test for telling frame-dragging due to Earth's rotation.

What I did manage to lay my hands on is a document at stanford university website:http://einstein.stanford.edu/content...020509-web.pdf

I quote the below from the pdf doc page 6. "The gyroscope is a spinning spherical body. Conceptually, therefore, Gravity Probe B is simple. All it needs is a star, a telescope, and a spinning sphere. The difficulty lies in the numbers. To reach the 0.5 marc-s/yr experiment goal calls for:
1) One or more exceedingly accurate gyroscopes with drift rates < 10-11 deg/hr, i.e. 6 to 7 orders of magnitude better than the best modeled inertial navigation gyroscopes
2) A reference telescope ~3 orders of magnitude better than the best previous star trackers
3) A sufficiently bright suitably located guide star (IM Pegasi was chosen) whose proper motion with respect to remote inertial space is known to <0.5 marc-s/yr
4) Sufficiently accurate orbit information to calibrate the science signal and calculate the two predicted effects"

Going by its method I am not sure what is it really trying to prove and accomplish?
 
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