A test of general relativity using radio links with the Cassini spacecraft

B. Bertotti, L. Iess () and P. Tortora
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B. Bertotti: Università di Pavia
L. Iess: Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
P. Tortora: Università di Bologna

Nature, 2003, vol. 425, issue 6956, 374-376

Abstract: Abstract According to general relativity, photons are deflected and delayed by the curvature of space-time produced by any mass1,2,3. The bending and delay are proportional to γ + 1, where the parameter γ is unity in general relativity but zero in the newtonian model of gravity. The quantity γ - 1 measures the degree to which gravity is not a purely geometric effect and is affected by other fields; such fields may have strongly influenced the early Universe, but would have now weakened so as to produce tiny—but still detectable—effects. Several experiments have confirmed to an accuracy of ∼0.1% the predictions for the deflection4,5 and delay6 of photons produced by the Sun. Here we report a measurement of the frequency shift of radio photons to and from the Cassini spacecraft as they passed near the Sun. Our result, γ = 1 + (2.1 ± 2.3) × 10-5, agrees with the predictions of standard general relativity with a sensitivity that approaches the level at which, theoretically, deviations are expected in some cosmological models7,8.

Date: 2003
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DOI: 10.1038/nature01997

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