Abstract
RECENT results of Shapiro et al.1 based on an analysis of radar echo time delays have set an experimental upper limit on the possible time variation of the gravitational constant as |Ġ/G| <3 × 10−10 yr−1. Theoretical calculations by Dicke2 for zero pressure Friedman-type cosmologies according to the Brans–Dicke (BD) theory3 yield |Ġ/G| ≈ 10−11 yr−1 for flat space and |Ġ/G| ≈ 3 × 10−11 yr−1 for closed space. Although this time variation of G is extremely small at the present epoch, Dicke has shown4 that there exist early epoch solutions (types 2 and 3) for which the energy density associated with the time variation is much greater than the matter energy density. (Dicke also finds a solution (type 1) which is not scalar dominated.)
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References
Shapiro, I. I., Smith, W. B., Ash, M. D., Ingalls, R. P., and Pettengill, G. H., Phys. Rev. Lett., 26, 27 (1971).
Dicke, R. H., Science, 138, 653 (1962).
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MORGANSTERN, R. Cosmological Upper Limit on the Time Variation of G. Nature 232, 109–110 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/232109a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/232109a0
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