On the impossibility of measuring a galvano-gravitomagnetic effect with current carrying semiconductors in a space-based experiment

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the feasibility of a recently proposed space-based experiment aimed to the detection of the effect of the Earth gravitomagnetic field in spaceborne semiconductors carrying radial electric currents and following identical circular equatorial orbits along opposite directions. It turns out that the deviations from this idealized situation due to the unavoidable orbital injection errors would make impossible the measurement of the gravitomagnetic voltage of interest.

LaTex2e, 7 pages, 1 table, no figures. Small typos corrected. Numerical error corrected in eq. (15) and eq. (16). One reference replaced. Accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravity