Gravitomagnetism, clocks and geometry

TL;DR

This paper introduces new light-based techniques to measure gravitomagnetic effects around spinning masses, demonstrating that light can be more effective than clocks for detecting angular momentum influences.

Contribution

It presents an exact formula for circular trajectories in gravitomagnetic fields and highlights the advantages of using light over clocks in experimental detection.

Findings

Light is a more sensitive probe than clocks for gravitomagnetic effects.

An exact formula for circular trajectories in gravitomagnetic fields is derived.

Numerical estimates suggest practical feasibility around Earth.

Abstract

New techniques to evaluate the clock effect using light are described. These are based on the flatness of the cylindrical surface containing the world lines of the rays constrained to move on circular trajectories about a spinning mass. The effect of the angular momentum of the source is manifested in the fact that inertial observers must be replaced by local non rotating observers. Starting from this an exact formula for circular trajectories is found. Numerical estimates for the Earth environment show that light would be a better probe than actual clocks to evidence the angular momentum influence. The advantages of light in connection with some principle experiments are shortly reviewed.