Self-creation Cosmology - Falsifiable Tests of The Theory

Falsifiable Tests of The Theory

As stated above, in vacuo the new theory is conformally equivalent to canonical GR so that test particles follow the geodesics of GR in solar system experiments. As all tests of GR to date measure the free-falling trajectories (GR geodesics) of test particles and photons through a vacuum, they cannot distinguish between GR or SCC. This degeneracy, may be resolved by three further definitive experiments in which the predictions of the two theories do differ.

One of them, the Gravity Probe B geodetic precession, which measures the precessions of four accurate orbiting gyroscopes, is being evaluated in 2007; SCC predicts 2/3 that of the GR N-S precession, i.e. 4.4096 arcsec/yr. whereas the frame-dragging or gravitomagnetic E-W precession prediction is the same as that of GR i.e. 0.0409 arcsec/yr. The first results of this experiment were published at the American Physical Society Meeting on the 14th April 2007. While unforeseen errors are still being determined through 2007 the geodetic precession measurement of 6.6 arcsec/yr, which is within 1% of the GR prediction, is fatal to the present form of SCC.

The reason that one of these GP-B tests predicts the same result as GR, whereas the other GP-B test does not, is due to the two different formulas used in the predictions. In the frame dragging prediction, there is a term

where is the gravitational parameter that enters into the field equation and defines the metric, which in a non-metric or semi-metric theory is not necessarily the same as, the Newtonian gravitational constant.

Now in GR and we do have

whereas in SCC, however we also have, which compensates for that difference in with the GR value, so this prediction of SCC is equal to its GR equivalent.

Now is the amount of space curvature per unit GM and in the geodetic precession, which directly measures curvature, the corresponding term is

so the corresponding geodetic precession is 5/6 the GR prediction.

However, this is not the end of the matter for according to SCC the satellite is not in free fall, it is being accelerated by the scalar field force. This introduces an extra Thomas precession of 1/6 the GR prediction. This extra precession has to be subtracted thus leaving a total SCC geodetic precession in a N-S direction of 2/3 the GR prediction or just 4.4096 arcsec/yr.

A second test asks the question: "Do photons and particles 'fall at the same rate' and uses the fact that the Earth is in free fall around the Sun, with a radial acceleration of about 0.01 m/s².

For example, the laser beams of the LIGO gravity wave telescope travel horizontally along two orthogonal 4km tunnels and are then reflected back to be re-combined at an interferometer at source. For this experimental test the interferometer might be adapted so that one beam could be returned immediately by an additional mirror to give it a negligible path length and then compared with the other beam that had travelled 8 km. The theory predicts that the two beams would then be displaced relative to each other in a direction towards the Sun by an amount

m/s²,

where is the Newtonian gravitational acceleration of the Earth towards the Sun.

Although the LIGO interferometers can measure a longitudinal displacement to an accuracy of m/s², the transverse position of the LIGO beam is not presently known accurately enough to test this prediction. (Kip Thorne: private communication)

The third type of test poses the following question; "Is there a limit to the Casimir force that is dependent on space-time curvature?" This question arises from the real vacuum solutions of the scalar potential, which yield small non-zero densities if the curvature is non-zero. The Jordan frame requires a definite, small, negative vacuum density of virtual photons whereas the Einstein frame requires a small positive density of 'upwards' accelerating virtual particles. The theory thereby suggests a natural connection between gravitational theory and quantum expectations of the vacuum. These virtual densities are coupled to curvature and approach zero simultaneously as curvature asymptotically tends to flatness. Thus it seems that SCC predicts a limit to the Casimir force as a function of space-time curvature that may be detectable. A rough calculation, dependent on the sensitivity of the apparatus, indicates that a detection of a rounding off of the maximum Casimir force may be made in the solar system somewhere between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. This is also the distance where the Pioneer Anomaly starts being detectable.