Indication, from Pioneer 10/11, Galileo, and Ulysses Data, of an Apparent Anomalous, Weak, Long-Range Acceleration

Anderson, J. D.; Laing, Philip A.; Lau, E. L.; Liu, Anthony S.; Nieto, Michael Martin; Turyshev, Slava G.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.81.2858

Cited by 534 publications

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“…The Pioneer anomaly Anderson et al (1998Anderson et al ( , 2002 consists of unexpected, almost constant and uniform acceleration directed approximately towards the Sun 8.74 ± 1.33 × 10 −10 ms −2 first detected in the analyzed data of the Pioneer probes after they passed the threshold of 20 Astronomical units. However, the recent new data of the Pioneer anomaly suggest that it is variable and environment dependent rather than a fixed value and still is not clear its direction with the possibility that be Earth directed, see Turyshev & Toth (2009.…”

Section: The Pioneer Anomaly In This Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Pioneer anomaly and the holographic scenario

Giné

2011

Astrophys Space Sci

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In this paper we discuss the recently obtained relation between the Verlinde's holographic model and the first phenomenological Modified Newtonian dynamics. This gives also a promising possible explanation to the Pioneer anomaly.Keywords Modified Newtonian Dynamics, Cosmology, Pioneer anomaly The phenomenological version of MONDThe Modified Newtonian dynamics theory (MOND) was introduced by Milgrom to solve the galaxies rotation curves problem as an alternative to the dark matter. The MOND can be implemented by a modification of the Newton's second law or the Newton's law of gravity.In particular Milgrom (in the formulation where the Newton's second law is modified) allowed for an inertia term not to be proportional to the acceleration of the object but rather to be a more general function of it. More precisely, it has the formwhere µ(x ≫ 1) ≈ 1, and µ(x ≪ 1) ≈ x and a = |a|, replacing the classical form m i a = F. Here m i is also the inertial mass of a body moving in an arbitrary static force field F with acceleration a, see Milgrom (1983). For accelerations much larger than the acceleration constant a 0 , we have µ ≈ 1, and Newtonian dynamics is restored. However for small accelerations a ≪ a 0 we have that µ = a/a 0 . In this case if F is the gravitational force

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Section: The Pioneer Anomaly In This Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Pioneer anomaly and the holographic scenario

Giné

2011

Astrophys Space Sci

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This Pioneer anomaly is a Doppler drift that may be interpreted as being due to a small constant acceleration a P = (8.74 ± 1.33) × 10 −8 cm/sec 2 of the spacecraft toward the Sun. The source of the anomaly is suspected to be a systematic effect associated with the spacecraft; however, no definitive answer is known as yet [1,2,3].In a recent paper [4], the modification of the Doppler effect due to the coupling of photon spin with the rotation of the emitter/receiver has been elucidated. This result is of interest for the Doppler tracking of spacecraft, since circularly polarized radiation is routinely employed to communicate with spacecraft and, moreover, the Earth as well as the spacecraft rotate.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The analysis of radio tracking data since about two decades ago -when the effective acceleration away from the Sun due to the solar radiation pressure on the spacecraft decreased below 5 × 10 −8 cm/sec 2 -has persistently indicated the existence of an anomaly in the Doppler navigational data [1,2,3]. This Pioneer anomaly is a Doppler drift that may be interpreted as being due to a small constant acceleration a P = (8.74 ± 1.33) × 10 −8 cm/sec 2 of the spacecraft toward the Sun.…”

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Pioneer anomaly and the helicity-rotation coupling

Anderson

Mashhoon

2003

Physics Letters A

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The modification of the Doppler effect due to the coupling of the helicity of the radiation with the rotation of the source/receiver is considered in the case of the Pioneer 10/11 spacecraft. We explain why the Pioneer anomaly is not influenced by the helicity-rotation coupling.PACS: 03.30.+p ; 04.20.Cv Keywords: Pioneer anomaly; helicity-rotation coupling 1 The Pioneer 10/11 Missions were launched about three decades ago and have been the first to explore the outer solar system. The analysis of radio tracking data since about two decades ago -when the effective acceleration away from the Sun due to the solar radiation pressure on the spacecraft decreased below 5 × 10 −8 cm/sec 2 -has persistently indicated the existence of an anomaly in the Doppler navigational data [1,2,3]. This Pioneer anomaly is a Doppler drift that may be interpreted as being due to a small constant acceleration a P = (8.74 ± 1.33) × 10 −8 cm/sec 2 of the spacecraft toward the Sun. The source of the anomaly is suspected to be a systematic effect associated with the spacecraft; however, no definitive answer is known as yet [1,2,3].In a recent paper [4], the modification of the Doppler effect due to the coupling of photon spin with the rotation of the emitter/receiver has been elucidated. This result is of interest for the Doppler tracking of spacecraft, since circularly polarized radiation is routinely employed to communicate with spacecraft and, moreover, the Earth as well as the spacecraft rotate. The question then naturally arises whether the helicity-rotation coupling contributes to the Pioneer anomaly. It is the purpose of this Letter to explain why there is no such contribution, since the main effect has already been phenomenologically incorporated in the analysis of Doppler data.Let ω and k be the frequency and wave vector of a photon according to inertial observers at rest in a global inertial frame. The photon is received by a noninertial observer with velocity v and rotation frequency Ω such that Ω << ω. According to this rotating observer, the frequency of the photon iswhere ω = ck, γ = (1 − v 2 /c 2 ) −1/2 is the Lorentz factor andĤ = ±ck/ω is the unit helicity vector of the photon. The upper (lower) sign refers to a positive (negative) helicity photon [4,5]. The photon helicity is related to its intrinsic spin S by S =hĤ. A beam of positive (negative) helicity electromagnetic radiation is such that inertial observers at rest along the beam looking down at the approaching wave will see the electric and magnetic fields both rotate counterclockwise (clockwise) with frequency ω about the direction of propagation. Equation (1) expresses the standard relativistic Doppler effect together with an extra term due to the helicity-rotation coupling (−γĤ · Ω) that may be neglected for Ω/ω → 0; otherwise, for a small but nonzero Ω/ω << 1, ignoring helicity-rotation coupling would lead to a systematic Doppler shift of magnitude ∆v = cΩ/ω along the beam. It is possible to illustrate the contribution of helicity-rotation coupling to the ...

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“…While the precision of the range determination improves, the effects of non-gravitational influences on the studied objects becomes more significant. The observed anomalous ∼ 9 × 10 −10 m/s 2 acceleration of the Pioneer spacecraft towards the Sun [4] is an example of a potentially significant discovery obscured by the possible non-gravitation systematic effects. Pressure from ∼ 60 Watts of unisotropically radiated heat from the spacecraft may account for the entire effect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel Two-Step Laser Ranging Technique for a Precision Test of the Theory of Gravity

Penanen¹,

Chui

2004

Nuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements

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All powered spacecraft experience residual systematic acceleration due to anisotropy of the thermal radiation pressure and fuel leakage. The residual acceleration limits the accuracy of any test of gravity that relies on the precise determination of the spacecraft trajectory. We describe a novel two-step laser ranging technique, which largely eliminates the effects of non-gravity acceleration sources and enables celestial mechanics checks with unprecedented precision. A passive proof mass is released from the mother spacecraft on a solar system exploration mission. Retro-reflectors attached to the proof mass allow its relative position to the spacecraft to be determined using optical ranging techniques. Meanwhile, the position of the spacecraft relative to the Earth is determined by ranging with a laser transponder. The vector sum of the two is the position, relative to the Earth, of the proof mass, the measurement of which is not affected by the residual accelerations of the mother spacecraft. We also describe the mission concept of the Dark Matter Explorers (DMX), which will demonstrate this technology and will use it to test the hypothesis that dark matter congregates around the sun. This hypothesis implies a small apparent deviation from the inverse square law of gravity, which can be detected by a sensitive experiment. We expect to achieve an acceleration resolution of ∼ 10 −14 m/s 2 . DMX will also be sensitive to acceleration towards the galactic center, which has a value of ∼ 10 −10 m/s 2 . Since dark matter dominates the galactic acceleration, DMX can also test whether dark matter obeys the equivalence principle to a level of 100 ppm by ranging to several proof masses of different composition from the mother spacecraft.

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Indication, from Pioneer 10/11, Galileo, and Ulysses Data, of an Apparent Anomalous, Weak, Long-Range Acceleration

Cited by 534 publications

References 13 publications

The Pioneer anomaly and the holographic scenario

The Pioneer anomaly and the holographic scenario

Pioneer anomaly and the helicity-rotation coupling

A Novel Two-Step Laser Ranging Technique for a Precision Test of the Theory of Gravity

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