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Journal ArticleDOI

Gravitational effects of rotating masses

Bahram Mashhoon
- 01 Apr 1985 - 
- Vol. 15, Iss: 4, pp 497-515
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TLDR
In this article, the nodding effect was investigated for the relative motion of neighboring test masses in the field of a rotating mass as well as for the restricted three-body problem in general relativity and the possibility of its detection was briefly discussed.
Abstract
A gyroscope in orbit about a central rotating mass undergoes relativistic nutational oscillations in addition to the well-known precessional motions. The amplitude of the oscillation is proportional to the angular momentum of the rotating mass and its period is the Fokker period of geodetic precession. The amplitude is maximum for a polar orbit and vanishes if the orbit is equatorial. This nodding effect is due to a small divisor phenomenon involving the Fokker frequency, and its existence implies that the applicability of the post-Newtonian approximation of general relativity is limited in time. The dynamical significance of the new effect for the relative motion of neighboring test masses in the field of a rotating mass as well as for the restricted three-body problem in general relativity is investigated and the possibility of its detection is briefly discussed.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

General-relativistic celestial mechanics. I. Method and definition of reference systems.

TL;DR: A new formalism for treating the general-relativistic celestial mechanics of systems of system of arbitrarily composed and shaped, weakly self-gravitating, rotating, deformable bodies is presented, aimed at yielding a complete description of the global dynamics of such $N-body systems.
Journal ArticleDOI

Limitations of spacetime measurements

TL;DR: In this paper, the theoretical limitations of a standard classical measuring device (D) are investigated by means of a simple example involving the measurement of distance, and it is shown that the length and time scales characteristic of D must be negligible compared to the acceleration length (L ) and time (L /c), respectively, associated with its motion.
Journal ArticleDOI

On the gravitational analogue of Larmor's theorem

TL;DR: In this article, the gravitational analogue of Larmor's theorem is formulated; the result is then used to study the graviational coupling of the helicity of electromagnetic radiation with the angular momentum of a rotating mass.
References
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Book

The Earth's Variable Rotation: Geophysical Causes and Consequences

TL;DR: In this article, a perspective of the earth and its physical properties is presented, along with the astronomical evidence of the Earth's physical properties and its evolution, including the periodic variations of seasons and hurricanes.
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