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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 83 » Issue 18
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3585–3588 (1999)

Improved Test of the Equivalence Principle for Gravitational Self-Energy

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S. Baeßler, B. R. Heckel, E. G. Adelberger, J. H. Gundlach, U. Schmidt, and H. E. Swanson
Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560

Received 12 July 1999; published in the issue dated 1 November 1999

The lunar-ranging test of the equivalence principle for gravitational self-energy is ambiguous. Although the Earth has more gravitational self-energy than the Moon, its sizable Fe/Ni core also gives it a different composition than the Moon. We removed this ambiguity by comparing, in effect, the accelerations of “miniature” earths and moons toward the Sun. Our composition-dependent Earth-Moon acceleration, ΔaCD/as = (+0.1±2.7±1.7)×10-13, and lunar-ranging data provide an unambiguous test at the 1.3×10-3 level.

© 1999 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.3585
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.3585
PACS:
04.80.Cc
 
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