• Open Access

MICROSCOPE limits for new long-range forces and implications for unified theories

Pierre Fayet
Phys. Rev. D 97, 055039 – Published 26 March 2018

Abstract

Many theories beyond the standard model involve an extra U(1) gauge group. The resulting gauge boson U, in general mixed with the Z and the photon, may be massless or very light and very weakly coupled. It may be viewed as a generalized dark photon interacting with matter through a linear combination [εQQ+εBB+εLL]e, involving BL in a grand-unified theory, presumably through BL.61Q, inducing effectively a very small repulsive force between neutrons. This new force, if long-ranged, may manifest through apparent violations of the equivalence principle. They are approximately proportional to εB+εL/2, times a combination involving mostly εL. New forces coupled to BL or L should lead to nearly opposite values of the Eötvös parameter δ, and to almost the same limits for εBL or εL, as long as no indication for δ0 is found. We derive new limits from the first results of the MICROSCOPE experiment testing the equivalence principle in space. A long-range force coupled to [εQQ+εBL(BL)]e or [εQQ+εLL]e should verify |εBL| or |εL|<.81024, and a force coupled to [εQQ+εBB]e, |εB|<51024. We also discuss, within supersymmetric theories, how such extremely small gauge couplings g, typically 1024, may be related to a correspondingly large ξD term associated with a huge initial vacuum energy density, 1/g2. The corresponding hierarchy between energy scales, by a factor 1/g1012, involves a very large scale 1016GeV, that may be associated with inflation, or supersymmetry breaking with a very heavy gravitino, leading to possible values of δ within the experimentally accessible range.

  • Received 4 December 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.055039

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & AstrophysicsParticles & Fields

Authors & Affiliations

Pierre Fayet*

  • Laboratoire de physique théorique de l’École normale supérieure 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France and Centre de physique théorique, École polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau cedex, France

  • *fayet@lpt.ens.fr CNRS UMR 8549, ENS, PSL University & UPMC, Sorbonne Universités.

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Issue

Vol. 97, Iss. 5 — 1 March 2018

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