Measurements of Gravitational Attractions at small Accelerations

TL;DR

This study measured tiny gravitational effects using a microwave resonator with suspended mirrors, confirming Newton's law at very small accelerations by observing frequency shifts caused by external masses.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental setup to measure gravitational attraction at extremely small accelerations with high precision.

Findings

Measured gravitational influence at accelerations as low as 5.4 x 10^{-12} m/s^2.

Observed frequency shifts consistent with Newtonian gravity.

Demonstrated feasibility of detecting small gravitational effects with resonator technology.

Abstract

Gravitational interactions were studied by measuring the influence of small external field masses on a microwave resonator. It consisted of two spherical mirrors, which acted as independent pendulumsindividually suspended by strings. Two identical field masses weremoved along the axis of the resonator symmetrically and periodically betweena near and a far position. Their gravitational interaction altered the distance between the mirrors, changing the resonance frequency, which was measured and found consistent with Newton's law of gravity. The acceleration of a single mirror caused by the two field masses at the closest position varied from $5.4 \cdot 10^{-12} m/s^2$ to $259 \cdot 10^{-12}\ m/s^2$.