Gravitomagnetic Clock Effect: Using GALILEO to explore General Relativity

All experiments to date are in remarkable agreement with the predictions of Einstein's theory of gravity, General Relativity. Besides the classical tests, involving light deflection, orbit precession, signal delay, and the gravitational redshift, modern technology has pushed the limits even further. Gravitational waves have been observed multiple times as have been black holes, arguably amongst the most fascinating objects populating our universe. Moreover, geodetic satellite missions have enabled the verification of yet another prediction: gravitomagnetism. This phenomenon arises due to the rotation of a central body, e.g., the Earth, which is dragging spacetime along. One resulting effect on satellite orbits is the observed Lense-Thirring effect. Another predicted, yet unverified, effect is the so-called gravitomagnetic clock effect, which was first described by Cohen and Mashhoon as the proper time difference of two counter-revolving clocks in an orbit around a rotating mass. A theoretical framework is introduced that describes a gravitomagnetic clock effect based on a stationary spacetime model. An incremental definition of a suitable observable follows, which can be accessed via orbit data obtained from the European satellite navigation system Galileo, and an implementation of the framework for use with real satellite and clock data is presented. The technical requirements on a satellite mission are studied to measure the gravitomagnetic clock effect at the state-of-the-art in satellite laser ranging and modelling of gravitational and non-gravitational perturbations. Based on the analysis within this work, a measurement of the gravitomagnetic clock effect is highly demanding, but might just be within reach in the very near future based on current and upcoming technology.