Dynamical test of the law of gravitation
Dynamical test of the law of gravitation
复制标题
万有引力定律的动力学测试
作者：
H. Hirakawa;K. Tsubono;K. Oide
虽然引力在天体力学领域已经确立，但两个质量之间的引力还没有在实验室里得到彻底的检验。自从卡文迪许的著名实验1 - 6以来，人们已经对这种相互作用进行了多次测试，其中大多数都是测量距离R小于0.8米的两个球形物体之间的静态吸引力。引力相互作用是微弱的，与电磁相互作用相比，没有有效的手段来屏蔽它。因此，要增加距离R除以1m是很困难的。在这种情况下，几位作者注意到，现有的实验数据并不排除在牛顿1/R势中加入一个可能的项。同时，在基本粒子物理的基础上，已经发表了许多理论论文[7,10 - 14]，预测了在R =∞处迅速消失的附加项。我们现在报告一个在R到4.2米范围内对万有引力定律的测试。该实验基于两个质量之间的低频动态四极-四极相互作用，这是由Sinsky和Weber15,16首次观察到的。所得结果在实验精度范围内与平方反比定律一致。
Although well established in the realm of celestial mechanics, gravitation between two masses has not yet been thoroughly examined in a laboratory. There have been several tests of the interaction since the Cavendish's celebrated experiment1–6, most of them measuring the static attraction between two spherical masses at a distance R less than 0.8 m. The gravitational interaction is weak and, in contrast with the electromagnetic interaction, there is no effective means to shield it. It has therefore proved difficult to increase the distance R over 1 m. Under the circumstances several authors7–9 have noted that the existing experimental data do not exclude a possible term which is added to the newtonian 1/R potential. Meanwhile, on the grounds of elementary particle physics, a number of theoretical papers7,10–14 have been published predicting additional terms which vanish rapidly at R = ∞. We now report a test of the law of gravitation in a range of R up to 4.2 m. The experiment is based on a low frequency dynamical quadrupole–quadrupole interaction between two masses, which was first observed by Sinsky and Weber15,16. Our result agrees with the inverse square law within the accuracy of the experiment.