Pavlis E C (1 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First edition, journal issue in original printed wrappers, of the first accurate observational confirmation of the Lense-Thirring effect. This is an effect predicted by general relativity and also known as 'frame dragging' in which the orbit of a small body orbiting around a rotating massive one is slightly perturbed by the rotation. The effect was first predicted by Austrian physicists Joseph Lense and Hans Thirring in 1918, although similar effects were obtained by Einstein and Besso in 1913. "An important early prediction of Einstein's general relativity was the advance of the perihelion of Mercury's orbit, whose measurement provided one of the classical tests of Einstein's theory. The advance of the orbital point-of-closest-approach also applies to a binary pulsar system and to an Earth-orbiting satellite. General relativity also predicts that the rotation of a body like Earth will drag the local inertial frames of reference around it, which will affect the orbit of a satellite. This Lense Thirring effect has hitherto not been detected with high accuracy, but its detection with an error of about 1 per cent is the main goal of Gravity Probe B an ongoing space mission using orbiting gyroscopes. Here we report a measurement of the Lense Thirring effect on two Earth satellites: it is 99 ± 5 per cent of the value predicted by general relativity" (from the paper). Large 8vo, pp. xviii, 883-1022, 36. Original printed wrappers (slight wear to foot of spine).