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Search for Millicharged Particles Using Optically Levitated Microspheres

David C. Moore, Alexander D. Rider, and Giorgio Gratta
Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 251801 – Published 16 December 2014
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Abstract

We report results from a search for stable particles with charge 105e in bulk matter using levitated dielectric microspheres in high vacuum. No evidence for such particles was found in a total sample of 1.4 ng, providing an upper limit on the abundance per nucleon of 2.5×1014 at the 95% confidence level for the material tested. These results provide the first direct search for single particles with charge 0.1e bound in macroscopic quantities of matter and demonstrate the ability to perform sensitive force measurements using optically levitated microspheres in vacuum.

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  • Received 20 August 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.251801

© 2014 American Physical Society

Synopsis

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Searching for Millicharged Particles

Published 16 December 2014

Tiny dielectric spheres in an optical trap are used to search for hypothetical particles with a small fractional charge.

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Authors & Affiliations

David C. Moore*, Alexander D. Rider, and Giorgio Gratta

  • Physics Department, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA

  • *dcmoore@stanford.edu

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Issue

Vol. 113, Iss. 25 — 19 December 2014

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