Opportunity to Test non-Newtonian Gravity Using Interferometric Sensors with Dynamic Gravity Field Generators

TL;DR

This paper proposes using advanced interferometric sensors and Dynamic gravity Field Generators to test for non-Newtonian gravity violations at short distances, potentially surpassing current experimental limits.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental setup combining DFGs with interferometers to detect non-Newtonian gravity with unprecedented sensitivity.

Findings

Potential to significantly improve limits on non-Newtonian gravity.

Feasibility of using existing gravitational-wave detector technology.

Baseline sensitivity estimates for future experiments.

Abstract

We present an experimental opportunity for the future to measure possible violations to Newton's 1/r^2 law in the 0.1-10 meter range using Dynamic gravity Field Generators (DFG) and taking advantage of the exceptional sensitivity of modern interferometric techniques. The placement of a DFG in proximity to one of the interferometer's suspended test masses generates a change in the local gravitational field that can be measured at a high signal to noise ratio. The use of multiple DFGs in a null experiment configuration allows to test composition independent non-Newtonian gravity significantly beyond the present limits. Advanced and third-generation gravitational-wave detectors are representing the state-of-the-art in interferometric distance measurement today, therefore we illustrate the method through their sensitivity to emphasize the possible scientific reach. Nevertheless, it is expected that due to the technical details of gravitational-wave detectors, DFGs shall likely require dedicated custom configured interferometry. However, the sensitivity measure we derive is a solid baseline indicating that it is feasible to consider probing orders of magnitude into the pristine parameter well beyond the present experimental limits significantly cutting into the theoretical parameter space.