Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · gr-qc/0601075

Dynamical response of the "GGG" rotor to test the Equivalence Principle: theory, simulation and experiment. Part I: the normal modes

G. L. Comandi·M. L. Chiofalo·R. Toncelli·D. Bramanti·E. Polacco·A. M. Nobili
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Recent theoretical work suggests that violation of the Equivalence Principle might be revealed in a measurement of the fractional differential acceleration $η$ between two test bodies -of different composition, falling in the gravitational field of a source mass- if the measurement is made to the level of $η\simeq 10^{-13}$ or better. This being within the reach of ground based experiments, gives them a new impetus. However, while slowly rotating torsion balances in ground laboratories are close to reaching this level, only an experiment performed in low orbit around the Earth is likely to provide a much better accuracy. We report on the progress made with the "Galileo Galilei on the Ground" (GGG) experiment, which aims to compete with torsion balances using an instrument design also capable of being converted into a much higher sensitivity space test. In the present and following paper (Part I and Part II), we demonstrate that the dynamical response of the GGG differential accelerometer set into supercritical rotation -in particular its normal modes (Part I) and rejection of common mode effects (Part II)- can be predicted by means of a simple but effective model that embodies all the relevant physics. Analytical solutions are obtained under special limits, which provide the theoretical understanding. A simulation environment is set up, obtaining quantitative agreement with the available experimental data on the frequencies of the normal modes, and on the whirling behavior. This is a needed and reliable tool for controlling and separating perturbative effects from the expected signal, as well as for planning the optimization of the apparatus.

Explore related subjects

gr-qc

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

G. L. Comandi, M. L. Chiofalo, R. Toncelli, D. Bramanti, E. Polacco, A. M. Nobili. 2006-01-18. Dynamical response of the "GGG" rotor to test the Equivalence Principle: theory, simulation and experiment. Part I: the normal modes. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2173075

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Electrovacuum Black Hole Uniqueness

We prove the black hole uniqueness conjecture in the axially symmetric, stationary, electrovacuum setting, subject to the refined asymptotic analysis of the associated singular harmonic maps, which includes an analyticity hypothesis at the axes. More precisely, it is shown that any asymptotically flat solution of the Einstein--Maxwell equations in this class, with more than one black hole horizon component is either: Majumdar--Papapetrou, up to a duality rotation, in which case all logarithmic angle defects vanish, or every finite axis rod logarithmic angle defect is strictly negative and hence every interaction force is strictly attractive. The proof extends the singular harmonic map method used for vacuum Kerr uniqueness in [18].

gr-qc↗
arXiv2026

Constraining Modified Mass-to-Horizon Cosmology Through Primordial Inflationary Observables

We investigate slow-roll inflation in a modified cosmological framework inspired by a generalized mass-to-horizon relation (MHR), $M=\gamma {c^2 L^n}/{G}$, where $n$ is a real parameter and $\gamma$ a dimensional constant. Using Padmanabhan's emergence paradigm, we derive the modified Friedmann equations for a flat FRW universe and analyze the dynamics of a canonical scalar field (inflaton) under the slow-roll approximation. We study the resulting inflationary phenomenology for power-law and Starobinsky potentials. For power-law potentials, the MHR modification fails to reconcile these models with current CMB constraints on $r$ and $n_s$. In contrast, Starobinsky inflation exhibits significant sensitivity to deviations from $n=1$. A perturbative analysis ($n=1+\Delta$) yields corrections to inflationary observables. We observe that the scalar power-spectrum normalization, under a fixed-Starobinsky prescription, imposes the stringent constraint $0.960 \lesssim n \lesssim 1.040$ for $N=60$ efolds. This is considerably tighter than spectral-index bounds. Our results establish inflation, particularly Starobinsky-like models, as a sensitive probe of generalized horizon thermodynamics and departures from standard MHR scaling.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2026

Improving the Sensitivity of Gravitational Wave Detection with Weighted Conformal Prediction

In the last decade, kilometre-scale interferometric gravitational-wave detectors have observed hundreds of compact binary mergers, the majority of which are binary black holes. However, the data are noise-dominated, and multiple independent search algorithms (pipelines) are used to enhance sensitivity and improve robustness. Rather than the standard approach of selecting the most significant pipeline output, we combine the outputs from all pipelines using a conformal prediction-based framework to provide statistically rigorous confidence estimates for candidate events. While combining pipelines improves sensitivity and ranking robustness, it requires a principled statistical framework that remains valid as data properties evolve across observing runs. A key challenge is distribution shifts between simulated datasets used for training and calibration and the real, unlabelled, observations used for testing, which can invalidate coverage guarantees and bias confidence estimates. In this work, we address this challenge by incorporating likelihood-ratio reweighting into our conformal prediction framework to account for covariate shift. Using mock datasets containing simulated signals, we demonstrate that weighted conformal prediction restores well-calibrated coverage under covariate shift and increases the confidence of events near the detection threshold, recovering true signals that would otherwise be missed.

gr-qc↗