Not yet. A 2026 proposal describes a millikelvin superfluid-helium gyroscope that could detect Earth’s frame-dragging signal in a laboratory. Its performance figures are calculations, not a completed measurement.
What it means for Earth to drag spacetime
General relativity predicts that a rotating mass twists the spacetime around it. For Earth, this is called frame dragging: the planet’s rotation produces a very small gravitomagnetic effect that changes the local definition of inertial rotation. It is distinct from ordinary gravity, which is the acceleration that makes objects fall and keeps satellites in orbit.
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Space missions have detected frame dragging indirectly, but extracting the signal has required months or years of observations and detailed models of Earth’s gravitational field. A successful laboratory instrument would measure a local rotational effect instead of waiting for a long satellite data set.
How the proposed helium gyrometer would work
Kai-Isaak Ellers, Marios Christodoulou, K. C. Schwab and K. Birgitta Whaley propose a single-Josephson-junction gyrometer made from superfluid helium-4. The device is a loop of ultracold superfluid interrupted by a tiny porous barrier. At very low temperature, the helium behaves as a coherent quantum fluid with a well-defined phase.
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Frame dragging would alter that phase. Because the phase determines the device’s oscillation, the effect would appear as a shift in the loop’s resonant frequency. The instrument would therefore act as a quantum rotation sensor: it would infer the frame-dragging rate from a frequency change rather than from a mechanical moving part.
What the published performance figures actually mean
The proposal’s headline numbers are conditional calculations based on assumed low-loss materials and operation at millikelvin temperatures. They are not readings from a built and tested instrument.
| Figure | What it describes | Status and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| 5×10−17 rad/s/√Hz at 10 mK | Calculated noise spectral density for the gyrometer | Model result under the paper’s assumed low-loss, 10-millikelvin conditions |
| 0.2% in one second | Projected resolution for the Earth frame-dragging rate | Performance estimate, not an observed measurement |
| 10−35 seconds | Equivalent proper-time difference represented by the rotational sensitivity | Interpretation of the proposal’s calculated sensitivity |
The one-second estimate does not mean an experiment has already produced a result in one second. It describes how quickly the proposed design could reach its target precision if the assumed coherence, loss and readout performance can be achieved in practice.
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What an experiment would have to do
The paper gives a device concept rather than an operating manual. Its measurement logic can be summarized as a sequence:
- Cool the loop. Bring the helium-4 circuit to roughly 10 mK, where the superfluid and junction can retain the required quantum coherence.
- Maintain a low-loss state. The calculated noise level assumes materials and a junction that dissipate very little energy.
- Track the resonance. Read the oscillation frequency set by the superfluid’s quantum phase.
- Convert the shift to rotation. Use the measured phase or frequency offset to infer the local rotational rate predicted for Earth’s frame dragging.
- Validate against relativistic and geophysical models. A credible detection would have to show that the signal matches the frame-dragging prediction rather than an ordinary rotation or another instrumental effect.
The difficult step is not identifying a frequency shift; it is proving that an extremely small shift comes from Earth’s gravitomagnetic field under real laboratory conditions. That is why the proposal’s calculations should be read as a sensitivity target, not as evidence that the effect has already been measured on a bench.
Why a quantum sensor could be faster than satellite tests
Earlier frame-dragging analyses used satellite motion as the observable. Earth’s uneven mass distribution also perturbs those orbits, so researchers need long data records and sophisticated gravity models to separate the relativistic contribution. The helium concept instead measures a local quantum phase response designed to couple directly to rotation.
If the assumed noise floor is reached, the experiment could seek the signal over seconds to minutes rather than collecting months or years of orbital data. That is a projected change in data burden, not a guarantee that every laboratory run would finish in that interval.
How this differs from NASA’s quantum-gravity projects
NASA’s atom-interferometry work provides related technology but addresses a different measurement target. In the Cold Atom Lab, atoms are split into wave packets that follow separate paths and are recombined; gravity, magnetic fields and other forces change the resulting interference signal. NASA has demonstrated that this kind of interferometer can operate in space.
NASA is also developing the Quantum Gravity Gradiometer Pathfinder (QGGPf), a separate technology-validation mission planned near the end of the decade. QGGPf uses two ultracold rubidium clouds as test masses and measures their differential acceleration to map gravity anomalies. It is not a frame-dragging gyroscope.
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| Feature | Superfluid-helium proposal | QGGPf pathfinder |
|---|---|---|
| Measurement target | Local frame-dragging rotation rate | Differential gravitational acceleration and mass anomalies |
| Sensor medium | Superfluid helium-4 with a single Josephson junction | Two ultracold rubidium atom clouds |
| Deployment | Proposed Earth-based laboratory device | Planned space technology-validation mission |
| Evidence status | Theoretical design with projected sensitivity | Pathfinder under development; the underlying atom-interferometer method has operated in orbit |
| Approximate instrument size and mass | Not stated for the proposed laboratory gyrometer | About 0.25 m3 and 125 kg, according to NASA’s 2025 description updated in 2026 |
AOSense and Infleqtion are working on QGGPf’s sensor head, while Vector Atomic is developing its laser optical system. Those industrial roles concern the NASA pathfinder, not the helium frame-dragging proposal.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Evidence status: proposal, not detection
The American Physical Society’s 17 September 2026 synopsis accurately describes the work as “A proposed lab-based quantum sensor could precisely measure within seconds the warping of spacetime caused by Earth’s rotation.” The wording matters: the article reports a proposed instrument and a calculated capability, not a published laboratory observation.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsBefore such a claim could be considered a measurement, researchers would need to build the junction and helium loop, demonstrate the predicted low-noise behavior near 10 mK, and show that the frequency shift follows the frame-dragging prediction under controlled tests. Until then, the result is an experimentally testable route to measuring Earth’s rotational gravitomagnetism, rather than a confirmation that a tabletop device has already done so.
Why the proposal matters
Frame dragging is a weak effect, and bringing it into a laboratory would connect precision quantum engineering with a prediction of general relativity. A successful sensor could provide a compact complement to satellite measurements, while the same techniques—ultracold matter, coherent phases and extremely low-noise readout—could support other precision tests of gravity. The immediate achievement, however, is the design and its projected sensitivity; the measurement itself remains to be demonstrated.
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