Submillimeter tests of the gravitational inverse-square law

C. D. Hoyle, D. J. Kapner, B. R. Heckel, E. G. Adelberger, J. H. Gundlach, U. Schmidt, and H. E. Swanson
Phys. Rev. D 70, 042004 – Published 26 August 2004
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Abstract

Motivated by a variety of theories that predict new effects, we tested the gravitational 1/r2 law at separations between 10.77 mm and 137μm using two different 10-fold azimuthally symmetric torsion pendulums and rotating 10-fold symmetric attractors. Our work improves upon other experiments by up to a factor of about 100. We found no deviation from Newtonian physics at the 95% confidence level and interpret these results as constraints on extensions of the standard model that predict Yukawa or power-law forces. We set a constraint on the largest single extra dimension (assuming toroidal compactification and that one extra dimension is significantly larger than all the others) of R*<~160μm, and on two equal-sized large extra dimensions of R*<~130μm. Yukawa interactions with |α|>~1 are ruled out at 95% confidence for λ>~197μm. Extra-dimensions scenarios stabilized by radions are restricted to unification masses M*>~3.0TeV/c2, regardless of the number of large extra dimensions. We also provide new constraints on power-law potentials V(r)rk with k between 2 and 5 and on the γ5 couplings of pseudoscalars with m<~10meV/c2.

  • Received 5 May 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.70.042004

©2004 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

C. D. Hoyle, D. J. Kapner, B. R. Heckel, E. G. Adelberger, J. H. Gundlach, U. Schmidt*, and H. E. Swanson

  • Department of Physics, Box 351560, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560, USA

  • *Currently at Physikalisches Institut, Heidelberg, Germany.

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Vol. 70, Iss. 4 — 15 August 2004

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