AEGIS at CERN: Measuring Antihydrogen Fall

The main goal of the AEGIS experiment at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator is testing fundamental laws such as the weak equivalence principle (WEP) and the CPT symmetry. In the first phase of AEGIS, a beam of antihydrogen will be formed whose fall in the gravitational field is measured in a Moirè deflectometer; this will constitute the first test of the WEP with antimatter.     

Antihydrogen and fundamental symmetries

The prospects for testing CPT invariance and the weak equivalence principle (WEP) for antimatter with spectroscopic measurements on antihydrogen are discussed. The potential precisions of these tests are compared with those from other measurements. “If there is negative electricity, why not negative gold, as yellow...as our own, with the same boiling point and identical spectrallines...” A. Schuster [1], 1898     

A new statement of Einstein's equivalence principle and relevant experiments

By considering the relationship between a freely falling frame and a local Lorentz frame, we propose a new expression of Einstein's equivalence principle (EEP). According to it, some feasible experiments should be done to test EEP. We point out that the effect of the magnetic-type gravitational counterpart of the Aharonov-Bohm experiment is too small to be detected now.     

Common-mode noise rejection using fringe-locking method in WEP test by simultaneous dual-species atom interferometers

We theoretically investigate the application of the fringe-locking method(FLM) in the dual-species quantum test of the weak equivalence principle(WEP).With the FLM,the measurement is performed invariably at the midfringe,and the extraction of the phase shift for atom interferometers is linearized.For the simultaneous interferometers,this linearization enables a good common-mode rejection of vibration noise,which is usually the main limit for high precision WEP tests of the dual-species kind.We note that this method also allows for an unbiased determination of the gravity accelerations difference,which meanwhile is ready to be implemented.     

Verification of the weak equivalence principle with Laue diffracting neutrons: Test experiment

We propose a novel experiment to test the weak equivalence principle (WEP) for the Laue diffracting neutron. Our experiment is based on an essential magnification of an external affect on neutron diffracting by Laue for the Bragg angles close to the right one in couple with additional enhancement factor which exists due to the delay of the Laue diffracting neutron at such Bragg angles. This enhancement phenomena is proposed to be utilized for measuring the force which deviates from zero if WEP is violated. The accuracy of measuring inertial to gravitational neutron masses ratio for the introduced setup can reach ～10^?5, which is more than one order superior to the best present-day result.     

The possibility of checking the equivalence principle in a null gravitational redshift experiment by a two-resonator laser system

A scheme of an optical detector is proposed for checking Einstein’s equivalence principle (EEP) in a null gravitational redshift experiment and for testing methods for calculating the length of a resonator in a weak variable gravitational field by recording the variations of the difference frequency of resonators caused by lunisolar variations of the geopotential in a double or a two-resonator laser system.     

Effect of gravity gradient in weak equivalence principle test

A high accuracy test of the weak equivalence principle(WEP) is of great scientific significance no matter whether its result is positive. We analyze the gravity gradient effect which is a main systematic error source in the test of WEP.The result shows that the uncompensated gravity gradient effect from the coupling term of the dominated gravity gradient multipole moment component q_(21) and the relative multipole field component Q_(21) contributes to an uncertainty of 1×10~(-11) on the E¨otv¨os parameter. We make a Q_(21) compensation to reduce the effect by about 20 times, and the limit of the test precision due to this coupling is improved to a level of a part in 10~(13).     

Testing fundamental physics with astrophysical transients

Explosive astrophysical transients at cosmological distances can be used to place precision tests of the basic assumptions of relativity theory, such as Lorentz invariance, the photon zero-mass hypothesis, and the weak equivalence principle (WEP). Signatures of Lorentz invariance violations (LIV) include vacuum dispersion and vacuum birefringence. Sensitive searches for LIV using astrophysical sources such as gamma-ray bursts, active galactic nuclei, and pulsars are discussed. The most direct consequence of a nonzero photon rest mass is a frequency dependence in the velocity of light propagating in vacuum. A detailed representation of how to obtain a combined severe limit on the photon mass using fast radio bursts at different redshifts through the dispersion method is presented. The accuracy of the WEP has been well tested based on the Shapiro time delay of astrophysical messengers traveling through a gravitational field. Some caveats of Shapiro delay tests are discussed. In this article, we review and update the status of astrophysical tests of fundamental physics.     

Energy conservation and the principle of equivalence

If the equivalence principle is violated, then observers performing local experiments can detect effects due to their position in an external gravitational environment (preferred-location effects) or can detect effects due to their velocity through some preferred frame (preferred-frame effects). We show that the principle of energy conservation implies a quantitative connection between such effects and structure-dependence of the gravitational acceleration of test bodies (violation of the Weak Equivalence Principle). We analyze this connection within a general theoretical framework that encompasses both non-gravitational local experiments and test bodies as well as gravitational experiments and test bodies, and we use it to discuss specific experimental tests of the equivalence principle, including non-gravitational tests such as gravitational redshift experiments, Eötvös experiments, the Hughes-Drever experiment, and the Turner-Hill experiment, and gravitational tests such as the lunar-laser-ranging “Eötvös” experiment, and measurements of anisotropies and variations in the gravitational constant. This framework is illustrated by analyses within two theoretical formalisms for studying gravitational theories: the PPN formalism, which deals with the motion of gravitating bodies within metric theories of gravity, and the TH?μ formalism that deals with the motion of charged particles within all metric theories and a broad class of non-metric theories of gravity.     

Correlation method estimation of the modulation signal in the weak equivalence principle test

In a test of the weak equivalence principle(WEP) with a rotating torsion pendulum, it is important to estimate the amplitude of the modulation signal with high precision. We use a torsional filter to remove the free oscillation signal and employ the correlation method to estimate the amplitude of the modulation signal. The data analysis of an experiment shows that the uncertainties of amplitude components of the modulation signal obtained by the correlation method are in agreement with those due to white noise. The power spectral density of the modulation signal obtained by the correlation method is about one order higher than the thermal noise limit. It indicates that the correlation method is an effective way to estimate the amplitude of the modulation signal and it is instructive to conduct a high-accuracy WEP test.     

About the Eötvös experiment and the hypercharge theory

A careful analysis of the linear correlation between the data of the Eötvös experiment and the baryon number per unit atomic mass shows (i) that it has a positive slope and approximately goes through the origin, and (ii) that the errors are so great that it can accomodate the weak equivalence principle of general relativity as well as the hypercharge theory of Fischbach et al., both for an attractive or a repulsive force.     

The search for quantum gravity effects I

In this contribution the search for effects from possible theories of quantum gravity is reviewed. In order to distinguish quantum gravity effects from standard effects, first the standard theory and the principles it is based on has to be described. We show that standard physics (the Maxwell equations, the Dirac equation, gravity as a metric theory) is completely based on the Einstein equivalence principle, EEP (for obtaining the Einstein equations, some more requirements are needed). As a consequence, all deviations from the EEP are related to new effects originating from quantum gravity. The variety and structure of these effects is described and the expected magnitude of the effects and a corresponding strategy for the search for these effects are discussed. We stress the advantages of space for performing experiments searching for quantum gravity effects. At the end we make some remarks concerning the daily-life applications of high-precision techniques. PACS 04.80.Cc; 03.30.+p; 06.20.-f; 04.60.-m     

Mössbauer-Effect Spectra of Iron Phosphonate Compounds

The iron phosphonates, tris (methyl methylphosphonate) iron (III) [Fe(MMP)³]; tris (ethylphosphonate) iron (III) [Fe(EEP)³]; and tris (isopropyl methylphosphonate) iron (III) [Fe(EEP)³]; have been obtained and studied previously by infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis.¹ The infrared obsorption spectra of the iron phosphonate compounds exhibited bands which could be assigned to functional groups of the phosphonate ligand; however, the role played by the iron atom in the molecule was unknown. In the present article, the results of Mössbauereffect spectroscopy are used to provide evidence for the interaction of the iron with the phosphonate esters.     

Gravitation in flat space. principle of equivalence for massive bodies of gravitational structure

It is shown that in a new nonmetrical nonlinear theory of gravitation in flat space [1, 2], satisfying the four classical effects of the general theory of relativity and the weak principle of equivalence for massive bodies of electromagnetic structure, the weak principle of equivalence is also satisfied for massive bodies of gravitational structure.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 26–32, May, 1979.     

基于原子干涉仪的微观粒子弱等效原理检验

等效原理是广义相对论的两个基本假设之一,也是爱因斯坦对弱等效原理的推广.目前,大量实验证明弱等效原理在一定的实验精度内是成立的.将引力与标准模型统一起来的新理论都要求弱等效原理破缺,因此更高精度的弱等效原理检验具有重要的科学意义.本文介绍了原子干涉仪的原理,回顾了利用原子干涉仪开展微观粒子弱等效原理检验实验研究的历史和现状,介绍了双组分原子干涉仪检验弱等效原理实验涉及的振动噪声抑制、拉曼光移频与相位噪声抑制、四波双衍射拉曼跃迁原子干涉、信号探测与数据处理等关键问题及研究进展,分析了高精度微观粒子弱等效原理检验研究的发展趋势,介绍了长基线原子干涉仪、空间原子干涉仪、超冷原子源以及纠缠原子源制备等方面的研究动态,展望了微观粒子弱等效原理检验研究的发展前景.     

Nordström’s scalar theory of gravity and the equivalence principle

General Relativity obeys the three equivalence principles, the “weak” one (all test bodies fall the same way in a given gravitational field), the “Einstein” one (gravity is locally effaced in a freely falling reference frame) and the “strong” one (the gravitational mass of a system equals its inertial mass to which all forms of energy, including gravitational energy, contribute). The first principle holds because matter is minimally coupled to the metric of a curved spacetime so that test bodies follow geodesics. The second holds because Minkowskian coordinates can be used in the vicinity of any event. The fact that the latter, strong, principle holds is ultimately due to the existence of superpotentials which allow to define the inertial mass of a gravitating system by means of its asymptotic gravitational field, that is, in terms of its gravitational mass. Nordström’s theory of gravity, which describes gravity by a scalar field in flat spacetime, is observationally ruled out. It is however the only theory of gravity with General Relativity to obey the strong equivalence principle. I show in this paper that this remarkable property is true beyond post-newtonian level and can be related to the existence of a “Nordström-Katz” superpotential.     

Rotation, the equivalence principle, and the Gravity Probe B experiment

The ultraprecise Gravity Probe B experiment measured the frame-dragging effect and geodetic precession on four quartz gyros. We use this result to test WEP II (weak equivalence principle II) which includes rotation in the universal free-fall motion. The free-fall E?tv?s parameter η for a rotating body is ≤10(-11) with a four-order improvement over previous results. The anomalous torque per unit angular momentum parameter λ is constrained to (-0.05±3.67)×10(-15) s(-1), (0.24±0.98)×10(-15) s(-1), and (0±3.6)×10(-13) s(-1), respectively, in the directions of geodetic effect, frame-dragging effect, and angular momentum axis; the dimensionless frequency-dependence parameter κ is constrained to (1.75±4.96)×10(-17), (1.80±1.34)×10(-17), and (0±3)×10(-14), respectively.     

Neutrino oscillations in non-inertial frames and the violation of the equivalence principle Neutrino mixing induced by the equivalence principle violation

Neutrino oscillations are analyzed in an accelerating and rotating reference frame, assuming that the gravitational coupling of neutrinos is flavor dependent, which implies a violation of the equivalence principle. Unlike the usual studies in which a constant gravitational field is considered, such frames could represent a more suitable framework for testing if a breakdown of the equivalence principle occurs, due to the possibility to modulate the (simulated) gravitational field. The violation of the equivalence principle implies, for the case of a maximal gravitational mixing angle, the presence of an off-diagonal term in the mass matrix. The consequences on the evolution of flavor (mass) eigenstates of such a term are analyzed for solar (oscillations in the vacuum) and atmospheric neutrinos. We calculate the flavor oscillation probability in the non-inertial frame, which does depend on its angular velocity and linear acceleration, as well as on the energy of neutrinos, the mass-squared difference between two mass eigenstates, and on the measure of the degree of violation of the equivalence principle (). In particular, we find that the energy dependence disappears for vanishing mass-squared difference, unlike the result obtained by Gasperini, Halprin, Leung, and other physical mechanisms proposed as a viable explanation of neutrino oscillations. Estimations on the upper values of are inferred for a rotating observer (with vanishing linear acceleration) comoving with the earth, hence rad/sec, and all other alternative mechanisms generating the oscillation phenomena have been neglected. In this case we find that the constraints on are given by for solar neutrinos and for atmospheric neutrinos. Received: 14 December 2000 / Published online: 15 March 2001     

Dissipation: the phase-space perspective

We show, through a refinement of the work theorem, that the average dissipation, upon perturbing a Hamiltonian system arbitrarily far out of equilibrium in a transition between two canonical equilibrium states, is exactly given by =W-DeltaF=kTD(rho||rho[over ])=kT, where rho and rho[over ] are the phase-space density of the system measured at the same intermediate but otherwise arbitrary point in time, for the forward and backward process. D(rho||rho[over ]) is the relative entropy of rho versus rho[over ]. This result also implies general inequalities, which are significantly more accurate than the second law and include, as a special case, the celebrated Landauer principle on the dissipation involved in irreversible computations.     

Test of special relativity and equivalence principle from neutrinoless double beta decay

We generalize the formalism for testing Lorentz invariance and the weak equivalence principle in the neutrino sector. While neutrino oscillation bounds constrain the region of large mixing of the the weak and gravitational eigenstates, we obtain new constraints on violations of Lorentz invariance and the equivalence principle from neutrinoless double beta decay. These bounds apply even in the case of no mixing and thus probe a totally unconstrained region in the parameter space. January 19, 1999