OPTIS - An Einstein mission for improved tests of Special and General Relativity

摘要

The mission OPTIS aims at improving tests of the foundations of Special and General Relativity by up to three orders of magnitude. The individual tests concernthe isotropy andconstancy of the speed of light,the time dilation (or Doppler effect),the universality of the gravitational redshift with various combinations of high precision clocks. Furthermore, laser tracking and a laser link allowsa strongly improved measurement of the gravitomagnetic Lense-Thirring effect,of the gravitoelectric Einstein perigee advance,of the gravitational redshift,and a search for deviations from Newtonian gravity.For this mission, technologies are required which have been used recently to carry through the most precise tests of Special Relativity. The precision of these tests can be further increased under space conditions thanks to longer integration times, larger changes in the orbital velocity, and larger differences of the gravitational potential. Furthermore, very precise laser tracking and linking of satellites is a well established technique and will provide, in combination with the active drag-free control system, very accurate orbit data. The core technologies for OPTIS are optical cavities, highly stabilized lasers, capacitive gravitational reference sensors, drag-free control, ion clocks, frequency combs, and laser tracking systems.These technologies are also key technologies for other future missions.