Physikalisches Kolloquium
May 27, 2003 at
5 p.m. c.t.
in
Hörsaal des Instituts für Kernphysik, Becherweg 45
Prof. Dr. Friederike Schmid
Institut für Physik
friederike.schmid@uni-mainz.de
Prof. Dr. Concettina Sfienti
Institut für Kernphysik
sfienti@uni-mainz.de
Sub-millimeter Tests of the Gravitational Inverse Square Law
Prof. Dr. Eric G. Adelberger (University of Washington)
It is remarkable that questions about gravitation, the oldest known interaction in physics, are again at the center of physics and that small-scale experiments can address important open issues. Modern string theory ideas (new scalar particles and extra dimensions) hint that Newton's Inverse-Square Law may break down at short distances.
I will review some motivations for testing the Inverse-Square Law, and discuss the techniques employed, emphasizing the Eot-Wash group's recent tests that explore length scales down to 100 micrometers.