Inverse Square Law Tests of Gravity

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9309468 Boynton Professor Boynton will conduct two null experiments to test the inverse square law of gravity in the critical range between 10 cm and 100 meters with significantly higher precision than earlier work. He has devised a new class of torsion pendulum detector designed specifically to provide high sensitivity to deviations from Newtonian gravity. Special care has gone into the experimental design to measure and remove systematic error sources due to gravity gradients. The experimental site on the Hanford DOE reservation will be constructed by Battelle Northwest Laboratories as an extension of their involvement with gravitation physics through the LIGO project. Departure's from Newton's description of gravity are not expected to be seen. Nevertheless, these experiments will set sensitive limits to the strengths and ranges of possible fundamental non gravitational forces which might act on electrically neutral matter. ***