Related papers: The Archimedes experiment
We explore scenarios in which the graviton is not a fundamental degree of freedom at short distances but merely emerges as an effective degree of freedom at long distances. In general, the scale of such graviton `compositeness', Lambda_g,…
Atom interferometers are powerful tools for both measurements in fundamental physics and inertial sensing applications. Their performance, however, has been limited by the available interrogation time of freely falling atoms in a…
We realize an interferometer with an atomic Fermi gas trapped in an optical lattice under the influence of gravity. The single-particle interference between the eigenstates of the lattice results in macroscopic Bloch oscillations of the…
The MICROSCOPE experiment was designed to test the weak equivalence principle in space, by comparing the low-frequency dynamics of cylindrical "free-falling" test masses controlled by electrostatic forces. We use data taken during technical…
This white paper is submitted as part of Snowmass2013 (subgroup CF2). The extraordinary sensitivity of torsion-balances can be used to search for the ultra-feeble forces suggested by attempts to unify gravity with the other fundamental…
In this paper we study the Casimir energy of a sample made by N cavities, with N >> 1, across the transition from the metallic to the superconducting phase of the constituting plates. After having characterized the energy for the…
The Casimir force is a spectacular consequence of the existence of vacuum fluctuations and thus deserves a place in courses on quantum theory. We argue that the scattering approach within a one-dimensional field theory is well suited to…
Despite being the dominant force of nature on large scales, gravity remains relatively elusive to experimental measurement. Many questions remain, such as its behavior at small scales or its role in phenomena ascribed to dark matter and…
We describe the theory and first experimental work on our concept for searching on earth for the presence of dark content of the vacuum (DCV) using atom interferometry. Specifically, we have in mind any DCV that has not yet been detected on…
We report precision measurements of the Casimir interaction at larger separation distances between the Au-coated surfaces of a sphere and a plate in ultrahigh vacuum using a much softer cantilever of the dynamic atomic force…
We report on preliminary results on the measurement of variations of the Casimir energy in rigid cavities through its influence on the superconducting transition of in-cavity aluminium (Al) thin films. After a description of the…
Measuring the effect of gravity on antimatter is a longstanding problem in physics that has significant implications for our understanding of the fundamental nature of the universe. Here, we present a technique to measure the gravitational…
Casimir forces are a manifestation of the change in the zero-point energy of the vacuum caused by the insertion of boundaries. We show how the Casimir force can be computed by consideration of the vacuum fluctuations that are suppressed by…
The second generation Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission (ARCADE 2) instrument is a balloon-borne experiment to measure the radiometric temperature of the cosmic microwave background and Galactic and…
It is pointed out that the Diosi-Penrose ansatz for gravity-induced quantum state reduction can be tested by observing oscillations in the flavor ratios of neutrinos originated at cosmological distances. Since such a test would be almost…
An extended framework of gravity, in which the first Friedmann equation is satisfied up to some constant due to violation of gauge invariance, is tested against astrophysical data: Supernovae Type-Ia, Cosmic Chronometers, and Gamma-ray…
One of the most surprising predictions of modern quantum theory is that the vacuum of space is not empty. In fact, quantum theory predicts that it teems with virtual particles flitting in and out of existence. While initially a curiosity,…
We describe experimental and related theoretical work on the measurement of the Casimir force using semiconductor test bodies. This field of research started in 2005 and several important and interesting results have already been obtained.…
Critical Casimir interactions represent a perfect example of bath-induced forces at mesoscales. These forces may have a relevant role in the living systems as well as a role in the design of nanomachines fueled by environmental…
Exploring gravitational interactions between objects with small masses has become increasingly timely. Concurrently, oscillators with masses ranging between milligrams and grams in cavity optomechanical systems sparked interest for probing…