HOJMAN-ROSENBAUM-RYAN-SHEPLEY TORSION THEORY AND EOTVOS-DICKE-BRAGINSKY EXPERIMENTS

Considering a modified form of local gauge invariance and minimal coupling, Hajman, Rosenbaum, Ryan, and Shepley obtained a dynamic torsion theory which allows propagation of torsion in vacuo. In this theory, the torsion is determined by the gradient of a scalar field φ. For the Sun, φ=0.67×10-4U where U is the Newtonian potential. In this field, test bodies with different electromagnetic energy contents behave differently. For aluminum and gold (or platinum), the gravitational accelerations would differ by 2×10-7a U. This implication disagrees with the null experiments of precisions 10-11a U and 10-12a U performed respectively by Roll, Krotkov, and Dicke and by Braginsky and Panov. © 1979 The American Physical Society.