Earth-Moon Tidal Dissipation Against a Shear Bound from the Density Ceiling
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study computes tidal dissipation in the Earth-Moon system from stated inputs and places the result against both the published observational value and the density ceiling of Einstein-Cartan torsion gravity, in which spin-sourced torsion caps the effective density of neutron matter near 9.72e57 kilograms per cubic metre. The computation gives: tidal torque 4.53e+16 N m; dissipated power 3.18 TW; length-of-day increase 2.11 ms per century; tidal quality factor 10; mean mantle shear stress 7.79e-05 Pa; density ratio to the ceiling 5.67e-55. The standard geophysical account reproduces the measured behaviour of the Earth-Moon system within the uncertainty of its inputs, and the largest correction the ceiling could contribute at terrestrial densities is far below the precision of the observations, so the measurement is consistent with the frame while also naming the threshold at which it would cease to be. Because the measured dissipation is fully accounted for by the recession rate and the spin-down it drives, any additional dissipation channel associated with a density ceiling would have to hide inside the few-percent uncertainty of the lunar ranging solution, which places a concrete observational ceiling on such a channel. The study is a computation from stated assumptions, not a new measurement.
Author: Aldred, William Alexander
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225801280
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