arXiv subjects

E. G. Adelberger

Publications and source records attributed to E. G. Adelberger.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Pseudo Plane-wave Gravitational Calibrator for Gravitational Wave Observatories

The precisions of existing gravitational calibrators for gravitational wave observatories are limited by their dependence on the relative position between the calibrators and the observatory's test masses. Here we present a novel geometry consisting of four quadrupole rotors placed at the vertices of a rectangle centered on the test mass. The phases and rotation directions are selected to produce a pseudo plane-wave sinusoidal gravitational acceleration with amplitude of ~ 100 fm/s^2. We show that this acceleration only has minimal dependence on the test mass position relative to the rotor array and can yield 0.15% acceleration amplitude uncertainty while tolerating a 1-cm test mass position uncertainty. The acceleration can be directed precisely along the optical axis of the interferometer arm and applies no torque on the test mass. In addition, the small size of the rotors has significant engineering and safety benefits.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Test of the Equivalence Principle for Superconductors

We searched for violations of the weak equivalence principle using a cryogenic torsion balance with a pendulum comprised of superconducting niobium and copper. We constrain the Eötvös parameter with 95%-confidence to $η_{\text{Nb*-Cu}}~\leq~2.0\times10^{-9}$ and $η_{\text{CP-ee}}\leq9.2\times10^{-4}$ for superconducting niobium and Cooper pairs, respectively.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Short-range tests of the equivalence principle

We tested the equivalence principle at short length scales by rotating a 3-ton $^{238}$U attractor around a compact torsion balance containing Cu and Pb test bodies. The observed differential acceleration of the test bodies toward the attractor, $a_{\text{Cu}}-a_{\text{Pb}} =(1.0\pm2.8)\times 10^{-13}$ cm/s$^2$, should be compared to the corresponding gravitational acceleration of $9.2\times10^{-5}$ cm/s$^2$. Our results set new constraints on equivalence-principle violating interactions with Yukawa ranges down to 1 cm, and improve by substantial factors existing limits for ranges between 10 km and 1000 km. Our data also set strong constraints on certain power law potentials that can arise from two-boson exchange processes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

A torsion-balance search for ultra low-mass bosonic dark matter

We used a stationary torsion balance with a beryllium-aluminum composition dipole to search for ultra low-mass bosonic dark matter coupled to baryon minus lepton number. We set 95% confidence limits on the coupling constant $g_{\rm B-L}$ for bosons with masses between $10^{-18}$ and $10^{-16}$ eV/$c^2$ with the best performance at $m_{\rm DM} = 8\times 10^{-18}$ eV/$c^2$ constraining $g_{B-L}(\hbar c)^{-1/2} < 1 \times 10^{-25}$. This provides a complimentary limit to equivalence-principle experiments that search for ultra low-mass bosons as force-mediating particles.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

New Test of the Gravitational $1/r^2$ Law at Separations down to 52 $μ$m

We tested the gravitational $1/r^2$ law using a stationary torsion-balance detector and a rotating attractor containing test bodies with both 18-fold and 120-fold azimuthal symmetries that simultaneously tests the $1/r^2$ law at two different length scales. We took data at detector-attractor separations between $52~μ$m and 3.0 mm. Newtonian gravity gave an excellent fit to our data, limiting with 95\% confidence any gravitational-strength Yukawa interactions to ranges $< 38.6~μ$m.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2017

An absolute calibration system for millimeter-accuracy APOLLO measurements

Lunar laser ranging provides a number of leading experimental tests of gravitation -- important in our quest to unify General Relativity and the Standard Model of physics. The Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation (APOLLO) has for years achieved median range precision at the ~2 mm level. Yet residuals in model-measurement comparisons are an order-of-magnitude larger, raising the question of whether the ranging data are not nearly as accurate as they are precise, or if the models are incomplete or ill-conditioned. This paper describes a new absolute calibration system (ACS) intended both as a tool for exposing and eliminating sources of systematic error, and also as a means to directly calibrate ranging data in-situ. The system consists of a high-repetition-rate (80 MHz) laser emitting short (< 10 ps) pulses that are locked to a cesium clock. In essence, the ACS delivers photons to the APOLLO detector at exquisitely well-defined time intervals as a "truth" input against which APOLLO's timing performance may be judged and corrected. Preliminary analysis indicates no inaccuracies in APOLLO data beyond the ~3 mm level, suggesting that historical APOLLO data are of high quality and motivating continued work on model capabilities. The ACS provides the means to deliver APOLLO data both accurate and precise below the 2 mm level.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

Short-range spin-dependent interactions of electrons: a probe for exotic pseudo-Goldstone bosons

We used a torsion pendulum and rotating attractor with 20-pole electron-spin distributions to probe dipole-dipole interactions mediated by exotic pseudo-Goldstone bosons with $m_{\rm b}\leq 500 \; μ$eV and coupling strengths up to 14 orders of magnitude weaker than electromagnetism. This corresponds to symmetry-breaking scales $F \leq 70$ TeV, the highest reached in any laboratory experiment. We used an attractor with a 20-pole unpolarized mass distribution to improve laboratory bounds on $CP$-violating monopole-dipole interactions with $1.5\:μ$eV$<m_{\rm b}<400\:μ$eV by a factor of up to 1000.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2013

Torsion-balance probes of fundamental physics

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 interactions. The motivation, the results and their implications as well as the future prospects of this work are summarized. The experiments include tests of the universality of free fall (weak equivalence principle), probes of the short-distance behavior of gravity (inverse-square law tests for extra dimensions and exchange forces from new meV scale bosons), and Planck-scale tests of Lorentz invariance (preferred-frame effects, non-commutative geometries).

hep-ex↗

arXiv2013

Improved Limits on Long-Range Parity-Odd Interactions of the Neutron

We show that a previous polarized 3He experiment at Princeton, plus Eot-Wash equivalence-principle tests, constrain exotic, long-ranged (lambda > 0.15m) parity-violating interactions of neutrons at levels well below those inferred from a recent study of the parity-violating spin-precession of neutrons transmitted through liquid 4He. For lambda > 1.0e8 meters the bounds on gAgV are improved by a 11 orders of magnitude.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2012

Torsion-balance tests of the weak equivalence principle

We briefly summarize motivations for testing the weak equivalence principle and then review recent torsion-balance results that compare the differential accelerations of beryllium-aluminum and beryllium-titanium test body pairs with precisions at the part in $10^{13}$ level. We discuss some implications of these results for the gravitational properties of antimatter and dark matter, and speculate about the prospects for further improvements in experimental sensitivity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2010

Laser Ranging to the Lost Lunokhod~1 Reflector

In 1970, the Soviet Lunokhod 1 rover delivered a French-built laser reflector to the Moon. Although a few range measurements were made within three months of its landing, these measurements---and any that may have followed---are unpublished and unavailable. The Lunokhod 1 reflector was, therefore, effectively lost until March of 2010 when images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) provided a positive identification of the rover and determined its coordinates with uncertainties of about 100 m. This allowed the Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation (APOLLO) to quickly acquire a laser signal. The reflector appears to be in excellent condition, delivering a signal roughly four times stronger than its twin reflector on the Lunokhod 2 rover. The Lunokhod 1 reflector is especially valuable for science because it is closer to the Moon's limb than any of the other reflectors and, unlike the Lunokhod 2 reflector, we find that it is usable during the lunar day. We report the selenographic position of the reflector to few-centimeter accuracy, comment on the health of the reflector, and illustrate the value of this reflector for achieving science goals.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2010

Solar fusion cross sections II: the pp chain and CNO cycles

We summarize and critically evaluate the available data on nuclear fusion cross sections important to energy generation in the Sun and other hydrogen-burning stars and to solar neutrino production. Recommended values and uncertainties are provided for key cross sections, and a recommended spectrum is given for 8B solar neutrinos. We also discuss opportunities for further increasing the precision of key rates, including new facilities, new experimental techniques, and improvements in theory. This review, which summarizes the conclusions of a workshop held at the Institute for Nuclear Theory, Seattle, in January 2009, is intended as a 10-year update and supplement to Reviews of Modern Physics 70 (1998) 1265.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2010

Long-term degradation of optical devices on the moon

Forty years ago, Apollo astronauts placed the first of several retroreflector arrays on the lunar surface. Their continued usefulness for laser-ranging might suggest that the lunar environment does not damage optical devices. However, new laser ranging data reveal that the efficiency of the three Apollo reflector arrays is now diminished by a factor of ten at all lunar phases and by an additional factor of ten when the lunar phase is near full moon. These deficits did not exist in the earliest years of lunar ranging, indicating that the lunar environment damages optical equipment on the timescale of decades. Dust or abrasion on the front faces of the corner-cube prisms may be responsible, reducing their reflectivity and degrading their thermal performance when exposed to face-on sunlight at full moon. These mechanisms can be tested using laboratory simulations and must be understood before designing equipment destined for the moon.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2008

Preferred-Frame and CP-Violation Tests with Polarized Electrons

We used a torsion pendulum containing $\approx 10^{23}$ polarized electrons to search new interactions that couple to electron spin. We limit CP-violating interactions between the pendulum's electrons and unpolarized matter in the earth or the sun, test for rotation and boost-dependent preferred-frame effects using the earth's rotation and velocity with respect to the entire cosmos, and search for exotic velocity-dependent potentials between polarized electrons and unpolarized matter in the sun and moon. Finally, we find that the gravitational mass of an electron spinning toward the galactic center differs by less than about 1 part in $10^{21}$ from an electron spinning in the opposite direction. As a byproduct of this work, the density of polarized electrons in Sm$ $Co$_5$ was measured to be $(4.19\pm 0.19)\times 10^{22} {\rm cm}^{-3}$ at a field of 9.6 kG.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2007

Test of the Equivalence Principle Using a Rotating Torsion Balance

We used a continuously rotating torsion balance instrument to measure the acceleration difference of beryllium and titanium test bodies towards sources at a variety of distances. Our result Delta a=(0.6+/-3.1)x10^-15 m/s^2 improves limits on equivalence-principle violations with ranges from 1 m to infinity by an order of magnitude. The Eoetvoes parameter is eta=(0.3+/-1.8)x10^-13. By analyzing our data for accelerations towards the center of the Milky Way we find equal attractions of Be and Ti towards galactic dark matter, yielding eta=(-4 +/- 7)x10^-5. Space-fixed differential accelerations in any direction are limited to less than 8.8x10^-15 m/s^2 with 95% confidence.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2007

APOLLO: the Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation: Instrument Description and First Detections

A next-generation lunar laser ranging apparatus using the 3.5 m telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in southern New Mexico has begun science operation. APOLLO (the Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation) has achieved one-millimeter range precision to the moon which should lead to approximately one-order-of-magnitude improvements in the precision of several tests of fundamental properties of gravity. We briefly motivate the scientific goals, and then give a detailed discussion of the APOLLO instrumentation.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Particle Physics Implications of a Recent Test of the Gravitational Inverse Square Law

We use data from our recent search for violations of the gravitational inverse-square law to constrain dilaton, radion and chameleon exchange forces as well as arbitrary vector or scalar interactions. We test the interpretation of the PVLAS effect and a conjectured ``fat graviton'' scenario and constrain the $γ_5$ couplings of pseuodscalar bosons and arbitrary power-law interactions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Tests of the Gravitational Inverse-Square Law below the Dark-Energy Length Scale

We conducted three torsion-balance experiments to test the gravitational inverse-square law at separations between 9.53 mm and 55 micrometers, probing distances less than the dark-energy length scale $λ_{\rm d}=\sqrt[4]{\hbar c/ρ_{\rm d}}\approx 85 μ$m. We find with 95% confidence that the inverse-square law holds ($|α| \leq 1$) down to a length scale $λ= 56 μ$m and that an extra dimension must have a size $R \leq 44 μ$m.

hep-ph↗