Constraints on composition independent Yukawa interactions inferred from measurements of the Newtonian gravitational constant

Two independent measurements of the Newtonian gravitational constant $G$, with stated relative uncertainties below 20 ppm, have been reported in the literature. These measurements were carried out at significantly different separations between source and test masses. The close agreement between the two reported values is used to derive constraints on the existence of a single, composition-independent Yukawa interaction at intermediate ranges. These inferred limits are tighter than those obtained through direct search, for ranges between about 2 cm and 1 m. At a range of 10 cm, the improvement is by a factor of approximately 50.

Figure 1

Limits on anomalous Yukawa interactions, inferred from measurements of the gravitational constant $G$ [1, 2], compared to existing limits [3, 4].