Abstract
We report results from a search for stable particles with charge 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 at the 95% confidence level for the material tested. These results provide the first direct search for single particles with charge bound in macroscopic quantities of matter and demonstrate the ability to perform sensitive force measurements using optically levitated microspheres in vacuum.
- Received 20 August 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.251801
© 2014 American Physical Society
Synopsis
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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