Progress in Measurements of the Gravitational Bending of Radio Waves
  Using the VLBA
  We have used the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 43, 23 and 15 GHz to
measure the solar gravitational deflection of radio waves among four radio
sources during an 18-day period in October 2005. Using phase-referenced radio
interferometry to fit the measured phase delay to the propagation equation of
the parameterized post-Newtonian (PPN) formalism, we have determined the
deflection parameter gamma = 0.9998 +/- 0.0003$ (68% confidence level), in
agreement with General Relativity. The results come mainly from 43 GHz
observations where the refraction effects of the solar corona were negligible
beyond 3 degrees from the sun. The purpose of this experiment is three-fold: to
improve on the previous results in the gravitational bending experiments near
the solar limb; to examine and evaluate the accuracy limits of terrestrial VLBI
techniques; and to determine the prospects and outcomes of future experiments.
Our conclusion is that a series of improved designed experiments with the VLBA
could increase the presented accuracy by at least a factor of 4.
