October 13, 2003
Recent papers by Samuel declared that the linearized post-Newtonian v/c effects are too small to have been measured in the recent experiment involving Jupiter and quasar J0842+1845 that was used to measure the ultimate speed of gravity defined as a fundamental constant entering in front of each time derivative of the metric tensor in the Einstein gravity field equations. We describe our Lorentz-invariant formulation of the Jovian deflection experiment and confirm that v/c effects are do observed, as contrasted to the erroneous claim by Samuel, and that they vanish if and only if the speed of gravity is infinite.
Similar papers 1
April 1, 2003
Using a relatively simple method, I compute the v/c correction to the gravitational time delay for light passing by a massive object moving with speed v. It turns out that the v/c effects are too small to have been measured in the recent experiment involving Jupiter and quasar J0842+1845 that was used to measure the speed of gravity.
January 1, 2005
Recent review article by S. Samuel "On the speed of gravity and the Jupiter/Quasar measurement" published in the International Journal of Modern Physics D13, 1753 (2004) provides the reader with a misleading "theory" of the relativistic time delay in general theory of relativity. Furthermore, it misquotes original publications by Kopeikin and Fomalont & Kopeikin related to the measurement of the speed of gravity by VLBI. We summarize the general relativistic principles of the...
May 25, 2004
A v_J/c correction to the Shapiro time delay seems verified by a 2002 Jovian observation by VLBI. In this Essay, this correction is interpreted as an effect of the aberration of light in an optically refractive medium which supplies an analog of Jupiter's gravity field rather than as a measurement of the speed of gravity, as it was first proposed by other authors. The variation of the index of refraction is induced by the Lorentz invariance of the weak gravitational field equ...
December 16, 2004
I present the theory and analysis behind the experiment by Fomalont and Kopeikin involving Jupiter and quasar J0842+1845 that purported to measure the speed of gravity. The computation of the v_J/c correction to the gravitational time delay difference relevant to the experiment is derived, where v_J is the speed of Jupiter as measured from Earth. Since the v_J/c corrections are too small to have been measured in the Jupiter/quasar experiment, it is impossible that the speed o...
November 4, 2003
We describe our explicit Lorentz-invariant solution of the Einstein and null geodesic equations for the deflection experiment of 2002 September 8 when a massive moving body, Jupiter, passed within 3.7' of a line-of-sight to a distant quasar. We develop a general relativistic framework which shows that our measurement of the retarded position of a moving light-ray deflecting body (Jupiter) by making use of the gravitational time delay of quasar's radio wave is equivalent to co...
March 14, 2003
The recent passage of Jupiter by the quasar QSO J0842+1835 at a separation of 3.7 arcminutes on September 8, 2002, combined with recent advances in interferometric radio timing, has allowed for the first measurement of higher-order post-Newtonian terms in the Shapiro time delay which depend linearly on the velocity of the gravitating body. Claims have been made that these measurements also allow for the measurement of the propagation speed of the gravitational force. This con...
October 10, 2003
Recent measurements of the propagation of the quasar's radio signal past Jupiter are directly sensitive to the time-dependent effect from the geometric sector of general relativity which is proportional to the speed of propagation of gravity but not the speed of light. It provides a first confirmative measurement of the fundamental speed of the Einstein general principle of relativity for gravitational field.
June 7, 2002
A relativistic sub-picosecond model of gravitational time delay in radio astronomical observations is worked out and a new experimental test of general relativity is discussed in which the effect of retardation of gravity associated with its finite speed can be observed. As a consequence, the speed of gravity can be measured by differential VLBI observations. Retardation in propagation of gravity is a central part of the Einstein theory of general relativity which has not bee...
December 30, 2002
Gravitational physics of VLBI experiment conducted on September 8, 2002 and dedicated to measure the speed of gravity (a fundamental constant in the Einstein equations) is treated in the first post-Newtonian approximation. Explicit speed-of-gravity parameterization is introduced to the Einstein equations to single out the retardation effect caused by the finite speed of gravity in the relativistic time delay of light, passing through the variable gravitational field of the so...
January 9, 2003
We calculate the delay in the propagation of a light signal past a massive body that moves with speed v, under the assumption that the speed of propagation of the gravitational interaction c_g differs from that of light. Using the post-Newtonian approximation, we consider an expansion in powers of v/c beyond the leading ``Shapiro'' time delay effect, while working to first order only in Gm/c^2, and show that the altered propagation speed of the gravitational signal has no eff...