Relativistic Precession

The special and general theories of relativity give three types of corrections to the Newtonian precession, of a gyroscope near a large mass such as the earth. They are:

  • Thomas precession a special relativistic correction accounting for the observer being in a rotating non-inertial frame.
  • de Sitter precession a general relativistic correction accounting for the Schwarzschild metric of curved space time near a large non-rotating mass.
  • Lense-Thirring precession a general relativistic correction accounting for the frame dragging by the Kerr metric of curved space time near a large rotating mass.

See also

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