Methodology and instrumentation for testing the weak equivalence principle in stratospheric free fall

1998 ◽  
Vol 69 (12) ◽  
pp. 4146-4151 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Iafolla ◽  
S. Nozzoli ◽  
E. C. Lorenzini ◽  
V. Milyukov
Keyword(s):  
Equivalence Principle ◽  
Free Fall ◽  
Weak Equivalence ◽  
Weak Equivalence Principle

FALLING RIGHT WHILE MOVING SLOW: TRUE TESTS OF THE WEAK EQUIVALENCE PRINCIPLE FOR ANTIPARTICLES

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 1242016
Author(s):  
C. S. UNNIKRISHNAN ◽  
G. T. GILLIES
Keyword(s):  
Equivalence Principle ◽  
Free Fall ◽  
Weak Equivalence ◽  
Surprising Result ◽  
Intrinsic Properties ◽  
Weak Equivalence Principle ◽  
Quantum Numbers ◽  
Supernova 1987A ◽  
Relativistic Factor ◽  
Cold Matter

A significant question in experimental gravity is the nature of free fall of antiparticles under gravity and elaborate preparations are underway to directly test this with cold antihydrogen. Earlier, the Shapiro delay of supernova 1987A neutrinos was interpreted as testing the weak equivalence principle (WEP). We establish the surprising result that the Shapiro delay of relativistic particles does not test WEP for intrinsic properties or quantum numbers of particles or antiparticles. This is because essentially the entire gravitational mass of the relativistic neutrinos is contributed by kinetic energy, diluting to insignificance any EP violating contribution from intrinsic properties, by the relativistic factor. The crucial message here is that a true test of the WEP involving intrinsic properties of matter or antimatter — the foundation of relativistic gravity — necessarily requires nonrelativistic "cold" matter and antimatter.

scholarly journals Microscope – A space mission to test the equivalence principle

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S261) ◽  
pp. 423-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meike List ◽  
Hanns Selig ◽  
Stefanie Bremer ◽  
Claus Lämmerzahl
Keyword(s):  
High Precision ◽  
Equivalence Principle ◽  
Free Fall ◽  
Space Mission ◽  
Drop Tower ◽  
Weak Equivalence ◽  
Weak Equivalence Principle ◽  
Space Agency

AbstractMICROSCOPE is a ESA/CNES space mission for testing the validity of the weak equivalence principle. The mission's goal is to determine the Eötvös parameter η with an accuracy of 10−15. The French space agency CNES is responsible for designing the satellite which is developed and produced within the Myriade series. The satellite's payload T–SAGE (Twin Space Accelerometer for Gravitation Experimentation) consists of two high–precision capacitive differential accelerometers and is developed and built by the French institute ONERA.As a member of the MICROSCOPE performance team, the German department ZARM performs free fall tests of the MICROSCOPE differential accelerometers at the Bremen drop tower. The project's concepts and current results of the free fall tests are shortly presented.

Higher-order gravity and the classical equivalence principle

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (34) ◽  
pp. 1750185
Author(s):  
Antonio Accioly ◽  
Wallace Herdy
Keyword(s):  
Gravitational Field ◽  
Equivalence Principle ◽  
Free Fall ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Tree Level ◽  
Weak Equivalence ◽  
Weak Equivalence Principle ◽  
Quantum Particles ◽  
Higher Order Gravity ◽  
Energy Dependent

As is well known, the deflection of any particle by a gravitational field within the context of Einstein’s general relativity — which is a geometrical theory — is, of course, nondispersive. Nevertheless, as we shall show in this paper, the mentioned result will change totally if the bending is analyzed — at the tree level — in the framework of higher-order gravity. Indeed, to first order, the deflection angle corresponding to the scattering of different quantum particles by the gravitational field mentioned above is not only spin dependent, it is also dispersive (energy-dependent). Consequently, it violates the classical equivalence principle (universality of free fall, or equality of inertial and gravitational masses) which is a nonlocal principle. However, contrary to popular belief, it is in agreement with the weak equivalence principle which is nothing but a statement about purely local effects. It is worthy of note that the weak equivalence principle encompasses the classical equivalence principle locally. We also show that the claim that there exists an incompatibility between quantum mechanics and the weak equivalence principle, is incorrect.

scholarly journals The GBAR experiment

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 1460263 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. van der Werf ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Present Status ◽  
Equivalence Principle ◽  
Free Fall ◽  
Weak Equivalence ◽  
Antiproton Annihilation ◽  
Weak Equivalence Principle ◽  
Fall Time ◽  
Gravitational Fields ◽  
Free Fall Acceleration

The classical Weak Equivalence Principle has not yet been tested using antimatter in matter gravitational fields. The GBAR (Gravitational Behaviour of Antihydrogen at Rest) experiment, recently approved by CERN, proposes to measure the free-fall acceleration of antihydrogen. In this experiment, positive antihydrogen ions will be produced, and subsequently cooled down using laser cooled Be + ions. Then, when a temperature of around 20 μK has been reached, the excess positron will be detached and the free-fall time will be measured using the antiproton annihilation products. An overview of the experiment will be given together with its present status.

scholarly journals Development of a cold atomic muonium beam for next generation atomic physics and gravity experiments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Soter ◽  
Andreas Knecht
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Physics ◽  
High Intensity ◽  
Equivalence Principle ◽  
Gravitational Interaction ◽  
Free Fall ◽  
Weak Equivalence ◽  
Weak Equivalence Principle ◽  
Paul Scherrer ◽  
Atomic Muonium ◽  
Low Emittance

A high-intensity, low-emittance atomic muonium (M =\mu^+ + e^-=μ++e−) beam is being developed, which would enable improving the precision of M spectroscopy measurements, and may allow a direct observation of the M gravitational interaction. Measuring the free fall of M atoms would be the first test of the weak equivalence principle using elementary antimatter (\mu^+μ+) and a purely leptonic system. Such an experiment relies on the high intensity, continuous muon beams available at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI, Switzerland), and a proposed novel M source. In this paper, the theoretical motivation and principles of this experiment are described.

A nonmetric theory of gravity

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 1640017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Tou Ni
Keyword(s):  
Time Reversal ◽  
Coordinate Transformation ◽  
Equivalence Principle ◽  
Free Fall ◽  
Weak Equivalence ◽  
Time Reversal Invariance ◽  
Weak Equivalence Principle ◽  
Universality Of Free Fall ◽  
Reversal Invariance ◽  
Theory Of Gravity

A nonmetric theory of gravity is presented, which agrees with all experiments to date. It possesses a Lagrangian-based nonmetric (i.e. nonminimum) coupling between electromagnetism and gravity which has complete continuous-coordinate-transformation symmetry but violates parity and time-reversal-invariance. The theory predicts the universality of free fall for test bodies, i.e. it obeys the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP). But due to the nonmetrical coupling between electromagnetism and gravity, it violates the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP). Hence, this theory disproves the conjecture due to Schiff which states that any gravitation theory that obeys the WEP must also, unavoidably, obey the EEP. Further examination of the empirical status implications of the EEP is therefore urged.

scholarly journals Testing the weak equivalence principle with macroscopic proof masses on ground and in space: A brief review

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 1460254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Nobili
Keyword(s):  
General Relativity ◽  
Equivalence Principle ◽  
Free Fall ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Torsion Balance ◽  
Experimental Fact ◽  
Weak Equivalence ◽  
Weak Equivalence Principle ◽  
Tests Of General Relativity ◽  
The Earth

General relativity is founded on the experimental fact that in a gravitational field all bodies fall with the same acceleration regardless of their mass and composition. This is the weak equivalence principle, or universality of free fall. Experimental evidence of a violation would require either that general relativity is to be amended or that another force of nature is at play. In 1916 Einstein brought as evidence the torsion balance experiments by Eötvös, to 10-8–10-9. In the 1960s and early 70s, by exploiting the "passive" daily rotation of the Earth, torsion balance tests improved to 10-11 and 10-12. More recently, active rotation of the balance at higher frequencies has reached 10-13. No other experimental tests of general relativity are both so crucial for the theory and so precise and accurate. If a similar differential experiment is performed inside a spacecraft passively stabilized by 1 Hz rotation while orbiting the Earth at ≃ 600 km altitude the test would improve by 4 orders of magnitude, to 10-17, thus probing a totally unexplored field of physics. This is unique to weakly coupled concentric macroscopic test cylinders inside a rapidly rotating spacecraft.

scholarly journals Satellite Laser-Ranging as a Probe of Fundamental Physics

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignazio Ciufolini ◽  
Richard Matzner ◽  
Antonio Paolozzi ◽  
Erricos C. Pavlis ◽  
Giampiero Sindoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Relativity ◽  
Gravitational Field ◽  
Equivalence Principle ◽  
Free Fall ◽  
Satellite Laser Ranging ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Weak Equivalence ◽  
Fundamental Physics ◽  
Weak Equivalence Principle ◽  
Gravitational Theories

Abstract Satellite laser-ranging is successfully used in space geodesy, geodynamics and Earth sciences; and to test fundamental physics and specific features of General Relativity. We present a confirmation to approximately one part in a billion of the fundamental weak equivalence principle (“uniqueness of free fall”) in the Earth’s gravitational field, obtained with three laser-ranged satellites, at previously untested range and with previously untested materials. The weak equivalence principle is at the foundation of General Relativity and of most gravitational theories.

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