A weak equivalence principle test on a suborbital rocket

Abstract

We describe a Galilean test of the weak equivalence principle, to be conducted during the free fall portion of a sounding rocket flight. The test of a single pair of substances is aimed at a measurement uncertainty of sigma(eta) < 10^-16 after averaging the results of eight separate drops. The weak equivalence principle measurement is made with a set of four laser gauges that are expected to achieve 0.1 pm Hz^-1/2. The discovery of a violation (eta not equal to 0) would have profound implications for physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.

To be published in Classical and Quantum Gravity. 14 pages, 6 figures. Further information available at http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/poem/

References in corpus (3)

• Test of the Equivalence Principle Using a Rotating Torsion Balance
• The Science Case for STEP
• Laboratory Tests of Gravitational Physics Using a Cryogenic Torsion Pendulum

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