The Energy Budget of Length-of-Day Variations
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study computes length-of-day variations 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: rotational kinetic energy 2.14e+29 J; energy belonging to one millisecond of day length 4.95e+21 J; mean secular power 3.61 TW; energy lost per century at the secular rate 1.14e+22 J. The standard geophysical account reproduces the measured behaviour of the rotation of the Earth 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. Putting rotational changes into energy units exposes a bookkeeping point that timing data alone hides: the seasonal wobble of the day moves more energy in a year than the tides remove in the same interval, yet only the tidal part is a true loss, because the atmosphere returns what it borrows. 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: W7225831242
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: