Yukawa Force Spectroscopy to Search for Violations of Newton’s Law of Gravity below 1 μm Distances

Research output: Thesis › Doctoral thesis

Authors

  • Helena Schmidt

Research Organisations

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Details

Original languageEnglish
QualificationDoctor rerum naturalium
Awarding Institution
Supervised by
  • Gerhard Heinzel, Supervisor
Date of Award24 Jun 2020
Place of PublicationHannover
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Abstract

Gravity is well tested on several length scales, but some unified theories predict deviations in the region below 1 mm. In this thesis I will present a method to search for such deviations in the sub-micrometre length scale. Below 1 μm, the electrostatic and the Casimir force are stronger than the gravitational force by some magnitudes. To distinguish these forces, I have designed a new force measurement setup based on the frequency modulation AFM technique. Utilizing a quartz based parallelogram cantilever, it is feasible to measure these forces with sufficient accuracy for us to set new constraints for possible deviations of gravity. In this thesis I will present a new method of measuring such deviations of gravity, and show the initial results I have obtained using it. This will show that the measurement concept works, but that improvements are necessary before we can achieve optimum measurement uncertainty.

Cite this

Yukawa Force Spectroscopy to Search for Violations of Newton’s Law of Gravity below 1 μm Distances. / Schmidt, Helena.
Hannover, 2020. 152 p.

Research output: Thesis › Doctoral thesis

Schmidt, H 2020, 'Yukawa Force Spectroscopy to Search for Violations of Newton’s Law of Gravity below 1 μm Distances', Doctor rerum naturalium, Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover. https://doi.org/10.15488/9983
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