Constraint on intermediate-range gravity from earth-satellite and lunar orbiter measurements, and lunar laser ranging

TL;DR

This study uses satellite and lunar measurements to set new constraints on intermediate-range gravity, significantly improving previous limits within the 1.2×10^7 m to 3.8×10^8 m range.

Contribution

It provides the first constraints on intermediate-range gravity using combined earth-satellite, lunar orbiter, and lunar laser ranging data, improving previous bounds by an order of magnitude.

Findings

Limits for intermediate-range gravity parameters are alpha=10^{-8} to 5×10^{-8}.

Constraints are established for the range lambda=1.2×10^7 m to 3.8×10^8 m.

Previous limits are improved by about ten times.

Abstract

In the experimental tests of gravity, there have been considerable interests in the possibility of intermediate-range gravity. In this paper, we use the earth-satellite measurement of earth gravity, the lunar orbiter measurement of lunar gravity, and lunar laser ranging measurement to constrain the intermediate-range gravity from lambda=1.2*10^{7}m - 3.8*10^{8}m. The limits for this range are alpha=10^{-8}-5*10^{-8}, which improve previous limits by about one order of magnitude in the range lambda=1.2*10^{7}m-3.8*10^{8}m.