Temperature Dependence of Gravitational Force in the Terrestrial and Space Experiments

Abstract

The problem of the absolute body temperature influence on the strength of the gravitational interaction has long ago started to attract the attention. According to the theory of relativity, the physical weight (excluding the influence of artifacts) of heated body is greater than of a cold one. The amount of extra "energy weight" is extremely small and almost unavailable for direct measurements. The report provides an overview of experiments based on accurate laboratory weighing of heated bodies, in which a negative temperature dependence of the physical weight of bodies is observed. A space experiment is suggested to testify the temperature dependence of the weight, based on the measurement of the radial position of the heated sample located on the orbit of the Earth's satellite.