Modeling Clock Comparison Experiments to Test Special Relativity

Abstract

The clock comparison experiments to test special relativity mainly include the Michelson–Morley experiment, Kennedy–Thorndike experiment, Ives–Stilwell experiment and the comparison experiment of atomic clocks in two locations. These experiments can be roughly classified as the comparison of two types of clocks: optical clocks and atomic clocks. Through the comparison of such clocks, Lorentz invariance breaking parameters in the RMS framework can be tested. However, in such experiments, the structural effects of optical clocks have been fully considered, yet the structural effects of atomic clocks have not been carefully studied. Based on this, this paper analyzes the structural effects of atomic clocks in detail and divides the experiments into six types: the comparison of two atomic clocks, two optical clocks, and atomic clocks and optical clocks placed in different and the same locations. Finally, correction parameters for the experimental measurements are given.

Keywords

• special relativity
• Lorentz invariance
• clock comparison