Open Science Repository Physics

doi: 10.7392/openaccess.45011847

Violation of Universality of Free Fall by Fast-moving Test Bodies

Hui Peng [1], Yan-Yi Peng [2], Kwang-Shang Wang [3]

[1] Guangdong SSL Innovation Center, ORCID 0000-0002-1844-3163; [2] University of Chicago, ORCID 0000-0002-4210-6861; [3] Pennsylvania State University, ORCID 0000-0001-8430-7541

Abstract

The Universality of Free Fall (UFF) and the Weak Equivalent Principle (WEP) are crucial for Einstein’s theory of gravity. In this article, we show that fast-moving test bodies violate UFF. A well-known problem of WEP is its lack of clarity about the inertial masses, e.g., the gravitational mass is equal to the rest mass for test bodies whereas it is equal to the relativistic mass, T^μν, for the source of gravitational fields (S-GF). To resolve this problem we expand WEP into three Sub-WEPs: WEP-I, WEP-II, and WEP-III. This allows us to define a new precise WEP where WEP-I is for slow-moving test bodies/S-GFs and WEP-II or WEP-III is for fast-moving test bodies/S-GFs. Not only is WEP-I valid and equivalent to UFF for slow-moving test bodies, it is also valid for slow-moving S-GFs. Either WEP-II or WEP-III is applicable to fast-moving test bodies/S-GFs. A synchrotron-type experiment is designed to directly verify both the predicted violation of UFF and the un-demonstrated WEP-II or WEP-III. Experimental confirmation of WEP-II would lead to an internal U (1) symmetry of gravity.

Keywords: Universality of Free Fall, Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP), Gravitational Experiment, Synchrotron-type Experiment, Einstein’s theory of gravity.

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APA

Peng, H., Peng, Y.-Y., & Wang, K.-S. (2015). Violation of Universality of Free Fall by Fast-moving Test Bodies. Open Science Repository Physics, Online(open-access), e45011847. doi:10.7392/openaccess.45011847

MLA

Peng, Hui, Yan-Yi Peng, and Kwang-Shang Wang. “Violation of Universality of Free Fall by Fast-Moving Test Bodies.” Open Science Repository Physics Online.open-access (2015): e45011847.

Chicago

Peng, Hui, Yan-Yi Peng, and Kwang-Shang Wang. “Violation of Universality of Free Fall by Fast-Moving Test Bodies.” Open Science Repository Physics Online, no. open-access (December 7, 2015): e45011847. doi:10.7392/openaccess.45011847.

Harvard

Peng, H., Peng, Y.-Y. & Wang, K.-S., 2015. Violation of Universality of Free Fall by Fast-moving Test Bodies. Open Science Repository Physics, Online(open-access), p.e45011847. Available at: http://www.open-science-repository.com/physics-45011847.html.

Science

1. H. Peng, Y.-Y. Peng, K.-S. Wang, Violation of Universality of Free Fall by Fast-moving Test Bodies, Open Sci. Repos. Phys. Online, e45011847 (2015).

Nature

1. Peng, H., Peng, Y.-Y. & Wang, K.-S. Violation of Universality of Free Fall by Fast-moving Test Bodies. Open Sci. Repos. Phys. Online, e45011847 (2015).

doi

Research registered in the DOI resolution system as: 10.7392/openaccess.45011847.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.