Test of the weak-equivalence principle in an Einstein elevator

Lorenzini, Enrico; Shapiro, I. I.; Fuligni, F.; Iafolla, V.; Cosmo, M. L.; Grossi, M. D.; Cheimets, Peter; Zieliński, J. B.

doi:10.1007/bf02726683

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The goal of the GReAT experiment (Lorenzini et al, 1994) is to test the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) with an accuracy of several parts in 10 15 , i.e., about two ordersof-magnitude better than the present ground-based measurements (Baessler et al, 1999). The WEP is at the basis of Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) and states that the ratio of the inertial mass to the (passive) gravitational mass is the same for all bodies (following Newton's formulation).…”

Section: The Great Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

General Relativity Accuracy Test (GReAT): New configuration for the differential accelerometer

Iafolla

Lucchesi

Nozzoli

et al. 2011

Advances in Space Research

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Section: The Great Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

General Relativity Accuracy Test (GReAT): New configuration for the differential accelerometer

Iafolla

Lucchesi

Nozzoli

et al. 2011

Advances in Space Research

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“…It is based on a detector housed in a balloon-borne capsule flying at an altitude of 40-45 km (Iafolla et al, 1 Shapiro et al, 2 and Lorenzini et al 3 ). After reaching the operating height, the capsule is released followed by the release of the detector inside the capsule, thus obtaining undisturbed free-fall conditions.…”

Section: Great (General Relativity Accuracy Test In An Einsteinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurement of the quality factor of a new low-frequency differential accelerometer for testing the equivalence principle

Iafolla

Lefevre

Fiorenza

et al. 2014

Review of Scientific Instruments

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“…[14][15][16] The external capsule is a light cylindrical structure that houses the 3-m-long vacuum chamber. The capsule also accommodates all the ancillary equipment, situated either in the nose cone or in the tail section, as follows: telemetry link, deceleration system, attitude measurement and control system, electronics, video cameras, batteries, floatation system, vacuum pumps, pressure gauges, and other sensors to monitor the system status.…”

Section: Description Of Facilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The acceleration noise of the free-falling instrument package is estimated 14,18 to be less than 10 Ϫ12 g for a 10 Ϫ6 mbar pressure inside the vacuum chamber. This freefall technique provides acceleration levels that are unmatched by any other Earth-based drop facility.…”

Section: Description Of Facilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, the nonaccessibility of the hardware in space prevents the trial and error process and, consequently, the fine tuning of the sensor under free fall conditions. A dragshielded vertical free fall from a stratospheric balloon [12][13][14] ͑like GiZero facility͒ retains most of the advantages of free fall while making the experiment accessible and repeatable. This technique has the potential to improve significantly the accuracy in testing the principle of equivalence without conducting the experiment in space.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Methodology and instrumentation for testing the weak equivalence principle in stratospheric free fall

Iafolla¹,

Nozzoli²,

Lorenzini

et al. 1998

Review of Scientific Instruments

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The use of the GiZero free-fall facility for testing the weak equivalence principle is discussed in this article. GiZero consists of a vacuum capsule, released from a balloon at an altitude of 40 km, which shields an experimental apparatus free falling inside the capsule itself. The expected residual acceleration external to the detector is 10−12 g (with g the Earth’s gravitational acceleration) for the 30 s free fall. A common-mode rejection factor of about 10−4 reduces the residual noise differential output to only 10−16 g. The gravity detector is a differential accelerometer with two test masses with coincident center of masses (i.e., zero baseline) with capacitive pick ups. Preparatory experiments have been conducted in the laboratory with a precursor detector by measuring controlled gravity signals, at low frequency, and by observing the Luni-Solar tides. The estimated accuracy in testing the weak equivalence principle, with a 95% confidence level, is 5×10−15 in a 30 s free fall. When compared to orbital free-fall experiments, the GiZero experiment can be considered as a valid compromise which is able to satisfy the requirement for improving significantly the experimental accuracy in testing the equivalence principle with a substantial lower cost, the ability to recover the detector and to repeat the experiment at relatively short time intervals.

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Test of the weak-equivalence principle in an Einstein elevator

Cited by 23 publications

References 9 publications

General Relativity Accuracy Test (GReAT): New configuration for the differential accelerometer

General Relativity Accuracy Test (GReAT): New configuration for the differential accelerometer

Measurement of the quality factor of a new low-frequency differential accelerometer for testing the equivalence principle

Methodology and instrumentation for testing the weak equivalence principle in stratospheric free fall

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