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Dragging of inertial frames

Nature volume 449, pages 41–47 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The origin of inertia has intrigued scientists and philosophers for centuries. Inertial frames of reference permeate our daily life. The inertial and centrifugal forces, such as the pull and push that we feel when our vehicle accelerates, brakes and turns, arise because of changes in velocity relative to uniformly moving inertial frames. A classical interpretation ascribed these forces to acceleration relative to some absolute frame independent of the cosmological matter, whereas an opposite view related them to acceleration relative to all the masses and ‘fixed stars’ in the Universe. An echo and partial realization of the latter idea can be found in Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which predicts that a spinning mass will ‘drag’ inertial frames along with it. Here I review the recent measurements of frame dragging using satellites orbiting Earth.

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Figure 1: Frame-dragging effects on clocks by a rotating mass.
Figure 2: Frame-dragging and the gravitomagnetic analogy of the general theory of relativity with electrodynamics.
Figure 3: The Lense–Thirring effect on the orbital plane of a test-particle.
Figure 4: The Lense–Thirring effect measured via the LAGEOS satellites 15, 16 in 2004 and its theoretical value predicted by the general theory of relativity.
Figure 5: Frame-dragging on the Gravity Probe B gyroscopes.

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Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge the support of the Italian Space Agency and the comments of R. Matzner of the Centre for Relativity, University of Texas at Austin, I. Novikov of the Astro Space Centre, Lebedev Physical Institute Moscow and D. P. Rubincam of NASA-Goddard.

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    Ignazio Ciufolini

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Ciufolini, I. Dragging of inertial frames. Nature 449, 41–47 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06071

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