Jens Gundlach
University of Washington
Friday, October 26, 2007
4:00 pm in SPL 57
Gravity on the Test Bench: Torsion Balance Renaissance
Abstract: In the last two decades torsion balances have been reintroduced to modern physics. We are using highly refined torsion balances to search for subtle deviations from ordinary weak-field gravity; in particular, we have tested the equivalence principle to unprecedented precision. We have used special torsion balances to test the 1/rē-law of gravity for distance scales as small a few tens of micrometers. With a few new tricks we were able to measure Newton's constant, G, with unmatched precision. We are also using our ultra-sensitive torsion balance instruments for crucial ground tests of the planned Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), an enormous gravity wave observatory.
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