The Science, Technology and Mission Design for the Laser Astrometric Test of Relativity

TL;DR

LATOR is a highly precise experiment designed to test Einstein's general relativity near the Sun by measuring light deflection with unprecedented accuracy, potentially revealing new physics or cosmological phenomena.

Contribution

This paper presents the science, technology, and mission design for the LATOR experiment, aiming to improve gravitational tests by several orders of magnitude.

Findings

Measurement accuracy of light deflection improved by a factor of ~30,000.

Potential to detect cosmological scalar fields within the solar system.

Enhanced constraints on general relativity and alternative theories.

Abstract

The Laser Astrometric Test of Relativity (LATOR) is a Michelson-Morley-type experiment designed to test the Einstein's general theory of relativity in the most intense gravitational environment available in the solar system -- the close proximity to the Sun. By using independent time-series of highly accurate measurements of the Shapiro time-delay (laser ranging accurate to 1 cm) and interferometric astrometry (accurate to 0.1 picoradian), LATOR will measure gravitational deflection of light by the solar gravity with accuracy of 1 part in a billion, a factor ~30,000 better than currently available. LATOR will perform series of highly-accurate tests of gravitation and cosmology in its search for cosmological remnants of scalar field in the solar system. We present science, technology and mission design for the LATOR mission.