Submillimeter tests of the gravitational inverse-square law

Abstract

Motivated by a variety of theories that predict new effects, we tested the gravitational 1/r 2 law at separations between 10.77 mm and 137 µm 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 * ≤ 160 µm, and on two equal-sized large extra dimensions of R * ≤ 130 µm. Yukawa interactions with |α| ≥ 1 are ruled out at 95% confidence for λ ≥ 197 µm. Extra-dimensions scenarios stabilized by radions are restricted to unification masses M * ≥ 3.0 TeV/c 2 , regardless of the number of large extra dimensions. We also provide new constraints on power-law potentials V (r) ∝ r −k with k between 2 and 5 and on the γ5 couplings of pseudoscalars with m ≤ 10 meV/c 2 .

The fate of the zero mode of the five-dimensional kink in the presence of gravity

“…All the Standard Model fields are supposed to be trapped on the brane, only the gravity being able to propagate in the bulk. As a consequence, the extra dimensions could be fairly large without contradiction with the available small-distance Newton's law measurements (at the time when this setup was proposed, even the dimensions of order of 1 mm were not excluded; the recent experimental bounds [7] require the extra dimensions to be not larger than 160 µm). The spectrum of perturbations in the models of this type has been studied extensively [8 -13], and it was found to contain Kaluza-Klein modes of gravitons, as well as exotic scalar particles, called branons [12,13].…”

Lagrange multiplier and Wess-Zumino variable as extra dimensions in the torus universe

“…For instance, to observe the transition from inverse-square law of Newtonian gravitation imposed via extra dimensions in brane world models, some measurements such as submillimeter measurement of gravity are proposed and can be used to test our model [71,[88][89][90][91].…”

Establishing analogies between the physics of extra dimensions and carbon nanotubes

“…The basic concept of the KK-construction generically used in models with EDs is easy to understand [5]: In case there exists one spatial ED, in addition to the three known ones, this ED must be compactified (i.e., "rolled up") in order not to modify the law of gravity on large scales [6]. The easiest possibility is the compactification on a circle S 1 , leading to periodic boundary conditions of any field along the ED.…”