Eötvös Bounds on Couplings of Fundamental Parameters to Gravity

Thomas Dent
Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 041102 – Published 25 July 2008

Abstract

The possible dependence of fundamental couplings and mass ratios on the gravitational potential has been bounded by comparing atomic clock frequencies over Earth’s elliptical orbit. Here we evaluate bounds on such a dependence from Eötvös-type experiments that test the weak equivalence principle, including previously neglected contributions from nuclear binding energy. We find that variations of fundamental parameters correlated with the gravitational potential are limited at 108109, an improvement of 2–3 orders of magnitude over atomic clock bounds.

  • Received 14 May 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.041102

©2008 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Thomas Dent

  • Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Heidelberg, Philosophenweg 16, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 101, Iss. 4 — 25 July 2008

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