RUI: Continuation of Support for Short-range Tests of Gravity at Humboldt State University

RUI：继续支持洪堡州立大学的短程重力测试

基本信息

批准号：
1908502
负责人：
Charles Hoyle
金额：
$ 8万
依托单位：
Humboldt State University Foundation
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2019-08-01 至 2024-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1908502&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
RUI Continuation Support Short range

项目摘要

Humboldt State University (HSU) is a federally-recognized Hispanic Serving Institution in a predominantly rural area of Northern California, and the Gravitational Physics Laboratory (GPL) is the only dedicated hands-on physics research laboratory in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. This award supports research in gravitation at very small ranges of the scale of the width of a human hair. Tests on the Inverse-Square Law (ISL) are conducted with tabletop experiments, looking for deviations that may indicate new physics. This award ensures the continuation of physics research at HSU and that its undergraduates, many of whom are first-generation college students and members of underrepresented groups in STEM fields, gain valuable research skills necessary for the pursuit of graduate studies or careers in industry. Undergraduates will also be sent to perform research at the University of Washington through a collaboration formed with a gravity research group there. Finally, tests of gravity are of great interest to research in diverse fields ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to particle physics and precision measurement science.This award supports high-precision experiments that will test the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) of General Relativity and the gravitational ISL at unprecedented levels. The WEP will be tested at the millimeter scale and the ISL will be probed over sub-millimeter distances with unmatched sensitivity down to approximately 25 microns. Both tests use a novel parallel-plate torsion pendulum and attractor mass design. In recent years the study of the gravitational interaction at short (sub-millimeter) distance scales has gained much attention due in a large part to unification scenarios arising in string or M theory that require more than three spatial dimensions, some of which could be macroscopic. Short-range tests of gravity and the WEP also investigate possible proposed mechanisms that attempt to explain the accelerated expansion of the universe, generally attributed to Dark Energy. Finally, such tests present the possibility to search for hypothetical new interactions due to exotic particles or other phenomena. Many scenarios concerning these effects predict a violation of the WEP and/or ISL at short distances. Since 1999, experimental limits have improved dramatically so that the ISL has proven valid over distances down to approximately 55 microns. A dedicated test of the WEP, however, has not been performed below the millimeter scale. The funding of this project will allow the completion of the ongoing initial tests of the WEP and ISL with test mass separations at the sub-millimeter scale (with test mass separation approaching 100 microns for the ISL test).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

洪堡州立大学 (HSU) 是一所联邦认可的西班牙裔服务机构，位于北加州主要农村地区，引力物理实验室 (GPL) 是物理和天文学系唯一的专门实践物理研究实验室。该奖项支持在人类头发宽度的极小范围内进行引力研究。平方反比定律 (ISL) 的测试是通过桌面实验进行的，寻找可能表明新物理现象的偏差。该奖项确保了 HSU 物理研究的延续，并确保其本科生（其中许多是第一代大学生和 STEM 领域代表性不足群体的成员）获得追求研究生学习或行业职业所需的宝贵研究技能。通过与华盛顿大学重力研究小组的合作，本科生还将被派往华盛顿大学进行研究。最后，重力测试对从天体物理学和宇宙学到粒子物理学和精密测量科学等各个领域的研究都非常感兴趣。该奖项支持高精度实验，以测试广义相对论的弱等效原理（WEP）和引力ISL 达到前所未有的水平。 WEP 将在毫米级进行测试，ISL 将在亚毫米距离上进行探测，其无与伦比的灵敏度低至约 25 微米。两项测试均采用新颖的平行板扭摆和吸引质量设计。近年来，短（亚毫米）距离尺度上的引力相互作用的研究引起了广泛关注，这在很大程度上是由于弦或 M 理论中出现的统一场景需要三个以上的空间维度，其中一些可能是宏观的。重力和 WEP 的短程测试还研究了可能提出的机制，试图解释宇宙的加速膨胀，通常归因于暗能量。最后，此类测试提供了寻找由奇异粒子或其他现象引起的假设新相互作用的可能性。许多与这些影响相关的场景都预示着短距离内会违反 WEP 和/或 ISL。自 1999 年以来，实验限制已得到显着改善，因此 ISL 已被证明在小至约 55 微米的距离内有效。然而，WEP 的专门测试尚未在毫米级以下进行。该项目的资金将允许完成正在进行的 WEP 和 ISL 初始测试，测试质量分离达到亚毫米级（ISL 测试的测试质量分离接近 100 微米）。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命和通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，该项目被认为值得支持。