The Cassini Conjunction Measurement of the Shapiro Delay and What It Bounds in a Torsion-Regulated Frame
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This paper computes the deviation of gamma from unity (gamma minus 1) for radio links between Earth and the Cassini spacecraft near solar conjunction within a torsion-regulated gravitational frame — Einstein-Cartan gravity with the density bound that follows from its spin-torsion term — and compares the result with the best published measurement. The relativistic prediction is 0 dimensionless; the published value is 2.1e-05 plus or minus 2.3e-05 dimensionless, a residual of 2.1e-05 dimensionless (0.913 standard deviations). Because torsion in this framework is sourced only by spin density and does not propagate, the predicted deviation from general relativity is set by the square root of the ratio of the system density to the bound density, giving a fractional deviation of 3.806e-28 and a correction of 3.806e-28 dimensionless. The measurement bounds any fractional deviation at 6.7e-05 (two standard deviations), so the framework passes this test with a headroom factor of 1.76e+23. Stated plainly, the test is consistent with the framework but cannot distinguish it from general relativity; the implied lower bound on the density scale, 3.137e+11 kilograms per cubic metre, lies far below the framework's bound of 9.718e+57 kilograms per cubic metre. The study is computed from stated assumptions and published data; it is simulated, not measured.
Author: Aldred, William Alexander
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225823426
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