Accurate Measurement in the Field of the Earth of the General-Relativistic Precession of the LAGEOS II Pericenter and New Constraints on Non-Newtonian Gravity

Abstract

The pericenter shift of a binary system represents a suitable observable to test for possible deviations from the newtonian inverse-square law in favor of new weak interactions between macroscopic objects. We analyzed 13 years of tracking data of the LAGEOS satellites with GEODYN II software but with no models for general relativity. From the fit of LAGEOS II pericenter residuals we have been able to obtain a 99.8% agreement with the predictions of Einstein's theory. This result may be considered as a 99.8% measurement in the field of the Earth of the combination of the γ and β parameters of general relativity, and it may be used to constrain possible deviations from the inverse-square law in favor of new weak interactions parametrized by a Yukawa-like potential with strength α and range λ. We obtained |α| ≲ 1 × 10(-11), a huge improvement at a range of about 1 Earth radius.