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Abstract |
At the beginning of the 20th century the theories of special and general
relativity were developed by Einstein and his contemporaries. These physical
theories revolutionize our conceptions of time and of the measurement of time.
The atomic clocks, which appeared in the 1950s, are so accurate and stable
that it is now essential to take into account many relativistic effects. The
development and worldwide comparisons of such atomic clocks allowed for some
of the most stringent of fundamental physics, as well as new ideas for the
search of dark matter, which I will present in this talk. On a more applied
level, when taking general relativity for granted, distant comparisons of
atomic clocks can be used for navigation and positioning, as well as the
determination of the geopotential. I will show how the chronometric
observables can fit and be used within the context of classical geodesy. |
