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Hafele-keating ExperimentThe Hafele-Keating experiment was a test of the theory of relativity. In October of 1971, J. C. Hafele and Richard E. Keating took four cesium-beam atomic clocks aboard commercial airliners and flew twice around the world, first eastward, then westward, and compared the clocks against those of the United States Naval Observatory. According to special relativity the speed of the aircraft would "slow" the clocks as compared to one sitting on the surface. Since the magnitude of the effect varies with the square of speed, the aircraft moving with the Earth would have a somewhat more pronounced slowing than the one moving against it -- compared to the universe as a whole, the eastward moving aircraft has a slightly higher overall velocity than the westward moving one, with the clock on the ground an almost equal amount between the two. According to general relativity there is another effect that comes into play, the slight decrease in gravity due to altitude that speeds the clocks back up. Since the aircraft are flying at roughly the same altitude in both directions, this effect is more "constant" between the two, but nevertheless causes a difference in comparison to the clock on the ground. The results were published in Science in 1972: The outcomes were well within the accuracy of the experimental setup, and the experiment is considered one of the most clear demonstrations of relativity. External links - http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Relativ/airtima.html
- A New Interpretation of Hafele-Keating - are the raw data, not originally published, actually more consistent with the later universal-time postulate, and thus not the "vindication" of special relativity as was thought?
* http://pages.sbcglobal.net/webster.kehr/Chapters/Chapter030-H-K.htm
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