We present an experimental procedure, based on Meissner effect levitation of neodymium ferromagnets, as a method of measuring the gravitational interactions between milligram masses. The scheme consists of two superconducting lead traps, with a magnet levitating in each trap. The levitating magnets behave as harmonic oscillators and, by carefully driving the motion of one magnet on resonance with the other, we find that it should easily be possible to measure the gravitational field produced by a 4 mg sphere, with the gravitational attraction from masses as small as 30 μg predicted to be measurable within a realistic measurement time frame. We apply this acceleration sensitivity to one concrete example and show the abilities of testing models of modified Newtonian dynamics.

Probing modified gravity with magnetically levitated resonators / Timberlake, C.; Vinante, A.; Shankar, F.; Lapi, A.; Ulbricht, H.. - In: PHYSICAL REVIEW D. - ISSN 2470-0010. - 104:10(2021), pp. 1-6. [10.1103/PhysRevD.104.L101101]

Probing modified gravity with magnetically levitated resonators

Lapi A.;
2021-01-01

Abstract

We present an experimental procedure, based on Meissner effect levitation of neodymium ferromagnets, as a method of measuring the gravitational interactions between milligram masses. The scheme consists of two superconducting lead traps, with a magnet levitating in each trap. The levitating magnets behave as harmonic oscillators and, by carefully driving the motion of one magnet on resonance with the other, we find that it should easily be possible to measure the gravitational field produced by a 4 mg sphere, with the gravitational attraction from masses as small as 30 μg predicted to be measurable within a realistic measurement time frame. We apply this acceleration sensitivity to one concrete example and show the abilities of testing models of modified Newtonian dynamics.
2021
104
10
1
6
L101101
10.1103/PhysRevD.104.L101101
https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.02263
Timberlake, C.; Vinante, A.; Shankar, F.; Lapi, A.; Ulbricht, H.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11767/125317
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