Use of a physical metric for OPERA experiment

TL;DR

This paper introduces a physical metric for the OPERA experiment that directly relates to experimental data, addressing inconsistencies in previous models and ensuring the speed of light matches vacuum conditions on Earth’s surface.

Contribution

It proposes a new physical metric that simplifies data interpretation and corrects the geodesic equation for the Schwarzschild metric in the context of the OPERA experiment.

Findings

The physical metric yields the correct Shapiro time delay.

On Earth's surface, the speed of light matches vacuum to first order in gravity.

The approach resolves the neutrino speed exceeding light issue under proper discussion.

Abstract

A physical metric is introduced as one that directly gives experimental data without further coordinate transformation. It will be shown that the geodesic equation for the Schwartzschild metric does not give the correct expression for the Shapiro time delay experiment. In the physical metric the speed of light on the surface of the earth is exactly the same as that in vacuum to first order in gravity, and this should eliminate the inconsistency of the speed of the neutrino exceeding that of light, if enough care is exerted in the discussion.