Abstract
We discuss the close conceptual connections between Geodetic Precession of a gyroscope, and Lense–Thirring precession (usually called Frame-Dragging). The origin of a quasi-inertial coordinate system may be allowed to fall freely or to be accelerated with non-gravitational forces, but the directions of the coordinate axes are maintained fixed with respect to the background metric, which may consist of contributions from several moving or rotating masses. Transformation of the space–time metric into quasi-inertial coordinates provides an instructive way of viewing the precession of a gyroscope placed at the origin. We shall show that in quasi-inertial coordinates Geodetic precession and Frame-Dragging can be viewed equivalently as arising from either orbital or spin angular momentum of the mass sources. The Geodetic and Frame-Dragging precessions, and Thomas precession as well, are gravitomagnetic effects that are related to spatial curvature only when adopting a particular point of view. We also illustrate the application of quasi-inertial coordinates by considering gyroscopic precession in the Gödel universe.
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Ashby, N. (2010). Quasi-inertial Coordinates. In: Ciufolini, I., Matzner, R. (eds) General Relativity and John Archibald Wheeler. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 367. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3735-0_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3735-0_16
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