Development of a Sensitive Superconducting Accelerometer and Gravity Gradiometer.
Abstract
The inverse square law of gravitation is known to agree with astronomical data to very high accuracy, but recent theoretical and experimental work indicate that the inverse square law may be violated at distances less than 1000 km. Such a violation would signal the existence of a new force. In order to check the inverse square law we are preparing to search for a non-newtonian force in a cylindrical shell. The cylindrical shell has the property that the newtonian effects nearly cancel so that we are doing nearly null experiment. We have developed a superconducting gradiometer to measure the gravitational force gradients at the center of this cylindrical shell. By measuring both the vertical and horizontal gradients we can eliminate effects due to imperfections in the cylinder. This report describes the instrument and its performance as well as calculated of the sensitivity of the inverse square law test.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA164061
Entities
People
- Daniel Debra
- William M. Fairbank
Organizations
- Stanford University