Investigation of Frame‐Dragging‐Like Signals from Spinning Superconductors using Laser Gyroscopes

The search for frame dragging around massive rotating objects such as the Earth is an important test for general relativity and is actively pursued with the LAGEOS and Gravity Probe‐B satellites. Within the classical framework, frame dragging is independent of the state (normal or coherent) of the test mass. This was recently challenged by proposing that a large frame‐dragging field could be responsible for a reported anomaly of the Cooper‐pair mass found in Niobium superconductors. In 2003, a test program was initiated at the Austrian Research Centers to investigate this conjecture using sensitive accelerometers and fiber optic gyroscopes in the close vicinity of fast spinning rings at cryogenic temperatures. This paper will discuss the measurements recently obtained with the fiber optic gyroscopes. They show, that the angular velocity applied to the superconductor can indeed be seen on the sensors below a critical temperature. The signal amplitude is about 8 orders of magnitude below the values applied ...