With the planning of new ambitious gravitational wave (GW) observatories, fully controlled laboratory experiments on dynamic gravitation become more and more important. Such new experiments can provide new insights in potential dynamic effects such as gravitational shielding or energy flow and might contribute to bringing light into the mystery still surrounding gravity. Here we present a laboratory-based transmitter-detector experiment using two rotating bars as transmitter and a 42 Hz, high-Q bending beam resonator as detector. Using a highly precise phase control to synchronize the rotating bars, a dynamic gravitational field emerges that excites the bending motion with amplitudes up to 100 nm/s or 370 pm, which is a factor of 500 above the thermal noise. The two-transmitter design enables the investigation of different setup configurations. The detector movement is measured optically, using three commercial interferometers. Acoustical, mechanical, and electrical isolation, a temperature-stable environment, and lock-in detection are central elements of the setup. The moving load response of the detector is numerically calculated based on Newton's law of gravitation via discrete volume integration, showing excellent agreement between measurement and theory both in amplitude and phase. The near field gravitational energy transfer is 10 25 times higher than what is expected from GW analysis.
With the planning of new ambitious gravitational wave (GW) observatories, fully controlled laboratory experiments on dynamic gravitation become more and more important. Such experiments can provide new insights in potential dynamic effects such as gravitational shielding or energy flow and might contribute to bringing light into the mystery still surrounding gravity. Here we present a laboratory-based transmitter-detector experiment using two rotating bars as transmitter and a 42 Hz, high-Q bending beam resonator as detector. Using a highly precise phase control to synchronize the rotating bars, a dynamic gravitational field emerges that excites the bending motion with amplitudes up to 100 nm/s or 370 pm, which is a factor of 500 above the thermal noise. The two-transmitter design enables the investigation of different setup configurations. The detector movement is measured optically, using three commercial interferometers. Acoustical, mechanical, and electrical isolation, a temperature-stable environment, and lock-in detection are central elements of the setup. The moving load response of the detector is numerically calculated based on Newton’s law of gravitation via discrete volume integration, showing excellent agreement between measurement and theory both in amplitude and phase. The near field gravitational energy transfer is 1025 times higher than what is expected from GW analysis.
We show that flexural waves can be focused in a beam to an extent that induces precisely controlled dynamic fracture of the beam. Flexural waves are excited at one end of a finite beam and focus at another location along the beam to form a shorter but much larger bending-moment pulse. The strong focusing is achieved by use of the frequency dependence of the phase and group velocity of flexural waves, as well as the superposition of multiple reflections. Amplification of the actuator input by a factor of 20 is achieved solely by wave focusing, proving the potential of such a technique.
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