Testing sub-gravitational forces on atoms from a miniature, in-vacuum source mass

ORAL

Abstract

In this talk, I will discuss our recent measurement of the gravitational attraction between cesium atoms in free fall and a centimeter-sized source mass using atom interferometry. Placing the source mass in vacuum provides sensitivity to a wide class of ``fifth force'' type interactions whose effects would otherwise be suppressed beyond detectability in regions of high matter density. Examples include so-called chameleon and symmetron fields, proposed as dark energy candidates. Our measurement tightens constraints on such theories by over two orders of magnitude.

Authors

  • Matthew Jaffe

    • University of California, Berkeley
  • Philipp Haslinger

    • University of California, Berkeley
  • Victoria Xu

    • University of California, Berkeley
  • Paul Hamilton

    • University of California, Los Angeles
  • Amol Upadhye

    • University of Wisconsin - Madison
  • Benjamin Elder

    • University of Pennsylvania
  • Justin Khoury

    • University of Pennsylvania
  • Holger Mueller

    • University of California, Berkeley