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First results of the LARES 2 space experiment to test the general theory of relativity

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Abstract

The LAGEOS 3 (today LARES 2) space experiment was proposed in the eighties by the Physics Department and by the Center of Space Research (CSR) of the University of Texas (UT) at Austin and by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to test and accurately measure frame-dragging, with the strong support of John Archibald Wheeler, director of the Center for Theoretical Physics of UT Austin. Frame-dragging is an intriguing phenomenon predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity which has fundamental implications in high-energy astrophysics and in the generation of gravitational waves by spinning black holes. LAGEOS 3 was reproposed in 2016 to the Italian Space Agency and to the European Space Agency as a technologically much improved version of LAGEOS 3 under the name LARES 2 (LAres RElativity Satellite 2) and then successfully launched in 2022 with the new launch vehicle VEGA C of ASI, ESA and AVIO. Today, after almost 40 years since the original proposal, we report the first results of the LARES 2 space experiment to test general relativity. The results are in complete agreement with the predictions of Einstein’s gravitational theory. Whereas previous results already confirmed the frame-dragging prediction, the conceptual relative simplicity of the LARES 2 experiment with respect to the previous tests with the LARES and LAGEOS satellites provides a significant advance in the field of tests of general relativity.

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Data Availability Statement

Satellites Laser Ranging (SLR) data of LARES 2 and LAGEOS are available at the NASA CDDIS (Crustal Dynamics Data Information System) as well as the ILRS European Data Center (EDC).

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Italian Space Agency for having funded the design of the LARES 2 satellite under agreement n. 2017-23-H.0 and the orbital analysis of LARES 2 under the agreement “Attività di analisi dei dati scientifici della missione LARES 2”, the European Space Agency and AVIO for the VEGA C inaugural flight and the International Laser Ranging Service [43] for tracking the satellites and providing the laser ranging data. E.C. Pavlis acknowledges the support of NASA Grant 80NSSC22M0001 and computational resources provided by NASA’s High-End Computing (HEC).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology (APM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China

    Ignazio Ciufolini

  2. Scuola Di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy

    Claudio Paris, Antonio Paolozzi & Emiliano Ortore

  3. Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research II (GESTAR II), University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Catonsville, MD, USA

    Erricos C. Pavlis & Magdalena Kuzmicz-Cieslak

  4. Center for Space Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    John Ries

  5. Center for Gravitational Physics, Weinberg Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Richard Matzner

  6. Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, CGS-Matera, Matera, Italy

    Giuseppe Bianco

  7. Center for Cosmology and Astrophysics, Alikhanian National Laboratory and Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia

    Vahe Gurzadyan

  8. Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Roger Penrose

Authors
  1. Ignazio Ciufolini
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  2. Claudio Paris
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  3. Erricos C. Pavlis
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  4. John Ries
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  5. Richard Matzner
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  6. Antonio Paolozzi
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  10. Vahe Gurzadyan
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  11. Roger Penrose
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vahe Gurzadyan.

Additional information

Paper dedicated to John Archibald Wheeler, a key figure of fundamental physics of the XX century and vigorous supporter of the LAGEOS 3/LARES 2 space experiment to test general relativity.

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Ciufolini, I., Paris, C., Pavlis, E.C. et al. First results of the LARES 2 space experiment to test the general theory of relativity. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 138, 1054 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-04696-6

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