Instrument for Measuring the Earth's Time-Retarded Transverse Gravitational Vector Potential

Abstract

Here within the basic design for a ground-based instrument for measuring the magnitude of the Earth's time-retarded transverse gravitational vector potential is described. The formula for the Earth's transverse vector potential is derived from the known formula for the neoclassical time-retarded transverse gravitational field (arXiv:0904.0383v2 [physics.gen-ph] 25May2010). The device senses the relativistic shift in the frequency of laser-diode oscillators set into circular motion at the tips of a two-arm rotor. The instrument employs fiber optics and a digital electronic interferometer/spectrometer to measure the effect of the relativistic time dilation on the frequency-modulated (FM) harmonic amplitudes in the beat signals between the tip-diodes and a stationary reference diode. The FM amplitudes depend on the orientation of the rotor. For the vertical-east-west orientation with a rotor frequency of 73.9 Hz, the predicted FM amplitudes for overtones at 148 Hz, 222 Hz, and 296 Hz are respectively 7x10^-10 Hz, 4x10^-11 Hz, and 9x10^-11 Hz. The overtones in the beat signals can be amplified and observed with a tunable FM digital audio amplifier. The measured values for the harmonics of the vector potential can be determined by back-calculating what the amplitudes must have been at the input to the amplifier. The instrument can be used to establish the speed of the Earth's gravitational field and to study the structure of the Earth's mantle and outer core.