Haugan, M. P. | Search NASA

NASA NTRS1979

Stability of the nakedness of Weyl singularities

The stability of the nakedness of the Weyl singularities against matter perturbations is investigated. Consideration is given to the effects of infalling test matter on the convergence of outgoing null rays. It is shown that the additional convergence induced by infalling test matter does not blow up sufficiently fast to reconverge diverging outgoing rays, at least in the equator, and that the nakedness seems to be stable in this limited sense.

Haugan, M. P.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Principles of equivalence, Eotvos experiments, and gravitational red-shift experiments - The free fall of electromagnetic systems to post-post-Coulombian order

Free fall in an external static gravitational field of a composite test body consisting of electromagnetically interacting charged particles is analyzed using the TH-epsilon-mu formalism developed by Lightman and Lee (1973). The Lightman and Lee calculation that was carried out to 'post-Coulombian' order is extended to 'post-post-Coulombian' order, and violations of the weak equivalence principle are found which result from the magnetostatic self-energy of the test body. The current generation of Eotvos experiments is shown to test the cited formalism at first order in the external gravitational potential to an accuracy of 4 by 10 to the -10th power for electrostatic energies and 6 by 10 to the -6th power for magnetostatic energies. It is concluded that although the formalism can be tested to an accuracy of 0.04 for electrostatic energies at second order in the gravitational potential, a significant second-order test for magnetostatic energies would require Eotvos experiments accurate to better than one part in 10 to the 15th power.

Haugan, M. P.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Weak interactions and Eotvos experiments

A current-current model for weak interactions is used to show that the weak-interaction contribution to the ground-state energies of typical nuclei is about one part in 100 million of their rest masses. By comparing this contribution with the results of recent versions of the Eotvos experiments, it is concluded that weak-interaction energies obey the principle of equivalence to better than one part in 100, thus refuting claims that those experiments did not test weak-interaction effects.

Haugan, M. P.↗