Researchers, including Armenian scientist, achieve unprecedented precision in measuring frame-dragging effect
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Researchers participating in an international scientific collaboration involving leading research institutions from several countries, including the A.I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory (formerly the Yerevan Physics Institute), have measured the frame-dragging effect with unprecedented precision. The findings have been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature.
The announcement was made by Armenia's Higher Education and Science Committee.
Among the co-authors of the paper, "LARES-2 satellite measures frame-dragging effect around the Earth," is Professor Vahagn Gurzadyan, Head of the Center for Cosmology and Astrophysics at the A.I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory.
The paper presents the results of an analysis of data collected by the LARES-2, LAGEOS, and GRACE satellites. Based on these data, the researchers succeeded in measuring the frame-dragging effect with unprecedented precision. Predicted by Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, the phenomenon describes how the rotation of a massive body-in this case, the Earth-affects the structure of the surrounding spacetime.
The findings confirm the predictions of the general theory of relativity in the vicinity of Earth, achieving a level of precision approximately ten times greater than that of previous measurements.
Beyond its significance for fundamental physics, the research also has important practical applications for more precise studies of Earth's gravitational field and tidal phenomena. The results have attracted widespread attention from the international scientific community as well as science news outlets.
The Center for Cosmology and Astrophysics at the A.I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory is participating in the LARES satellite program, a collaborative initiative involving the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the European Space Agency (ESA), and several leading scientific institutions. As part of the program, the LARES-2 satellite was launched into space in 2022.