近日，中国科学院精密测量科学与技术创新研究院Ignazio Ciufolini团队报道了LARES-2卫星测量地球周围的参考系拖曳效应。2026年7月8日，《自然》杂志发表了这一成果。

激光测距在弱场区域提供了一些最精确的引力检验，能够以地球为实验室，对爱因斯坦广义相对论进行实验探索。广义相对论的一项核心试验是参考系拖曳的幅度，即旋转质量对时空的拖曳效应。

研究组表明，由于优化的轨道、极低的面质比和高度均匀的后向反射器分布，近期发射的激光相对论卫星2号（LARES-2）结合了其前身LAGEOS卫星及GRACE卫星，能够以千分之一水平的相对不确定度测量地球参考系拖曳，比此前太阳系测定结果提高了一个数量级。

该结果为近地环境下的广义相对论提供了严格的验证，并对预测参考系拖曳存在特定偏差的替代引力模型（包括Chern-Simons引力等标量-张量扩展理论）施加了强有力的约束。除基础物理学检验外，LARES-2与LAGEOS的联合分析还改进了地球日月潮汐的测定，这展示了高精度相对论卫星实验在更广泛地球物理学领域的影响。

附：英文原文

Title: LARES-2 satellite measures frame-dragging effect around the Earth

Author: Ciufolini, Ignazio, Paolozzi, Antonio, Pavlis, Erricos C., Ries, John C., Paris, Claudio, Ortore, Emiliano, Matzner, Richard, Kuzmicz-Cieslak, Magdalena, Deka, Darpanjeet, Pavlis, Despina E., Schreiner, Patrick, Ni, Wei-Tou, Penrose, Roger, Gurzadyan, Vahe

Issue&Volume: 2026-07-08

Abstract: Laser-ranging provides some of the most precise tests of gravity in the weak-field regime, enabling experimental probes of Einstein’s general theory of relativity using the Earth as a laboratory1. A central test of general relativity is the amplitude of frame-dragging, that is, the dragging of spacetime by a rotating mass2,3,4,5. Owing to its optimized orbit, a very low surface-to-mass ratio and a highly uniform retroreflector distribution, we show that the recently launched Laser Relativity Satellite 2 (LARES-2)6—together with its predecessor LAGEOS and the GRACE satellites—enables a measurement of terrestrial frame-dragging with a relative uncertainty at the one-part-in-a-thousand level, representing an order-of-magnitude improvement over previous Solar System determinations. This result provides a stringent confirmation of general relativity in the near-Earth environment and places strong constraints on alternative gravitational models that predict deviations specifically in frame-dragging, including scalar–tensor extensions such as Chern–Simons gravity7,8. Beyond tests of fundamental physics, the combined analysis of LARES-2 and LAGEOS also improves the determination of Earth’s lunisolar tides, illustrating the broader geophysical impact of high-precision relativistic satellite experiments.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10715-0

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10715-0

期刊信息

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504

官方网址：http://www.nature.com/

投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html