Yukawa effects on the clock onboard a drag-free satellite

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Yukawa corrections to gravity could affect the timing and orbital dynamics of a drag-free satellite, highlighting the difficulty in detecting these effects with current clock technology.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of Yukawa effects on satellite dynamics and time transfer, emphasizing the challenges in observational detection with existing clocks.

Findings

Yukawa effects significantly influence satellite orbital parameters.

Time transfer signals are less sensitive to Yukawa corrections than orbital dynamics.

Current clocks are insufficiently precise to detect Yukawa effects in time transfer.

Abstract

The Yukawa correction to the Newtonian gravitational force is accepted as a parameterization of deviations from the inverse-square law of gravity which might be caused by new physics beyond the standard model of particles and the general theory of relativity. We investigate these effects on the clock onboard a drag-free satellite: dynamics of the satellite and influence on the time transfer link. We find the Yukawa signal in the time transfer is much harder to detect with current state of clocks than those effects on the dynamics, especially the secular change of periastron, by laser ranging in the case of an artificial Earth satellite carrying a frequency standard with an orbit of $a=10^7$\,m and $e=0.01$.