Testing long-distance modifications of gravity to 100 astronomical units

Abstract

There are very few direct experimental tests of the inverse square law of gravity at distances comparable to the scale of the Solar System and beyond. Here we describe a possible space mission optimized to test the inverse square law at a scale of up to 100 AU. For example, sensitivity to a Yukawa correction with a strength of $10^{-7}$ times gravity and length scale of 100 AU is within reach, improving the current state of the art by over two orders of magnitude. This experiment would extend our understanding of gravity to the largest scale that can be reached with a direct probe using known technology. This would provide a powerful test of long-distance modifications of gravity including many theories motivated by dark matter or dark energy.

14 pages, 7 figures; v3: refined discussion of systematics, corrected a numerical error; matches published version

References in corpus (7)

• Resummation of Massive Gravity
• Dark Matter Results from 225 Live Days of XENON100 Data
• Gravity Probe B: Final Results of a Space Experiment to Test General Relativity
• Search for Low-Mass WIMPs with SuperCDMS
• Cosmic Acceleration and the Helicity-0 Graviton
• External field effect of modified Newtonian dynamics in the Solar system
• Dynamical determination of the Kuiper Belt's mass from motions of the inner planets of the Solar System

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Nonlocal Gravity in the Solar System
• Constraining the Schwarzschild-de Sitter Solution in Models of Modified Gravity
• Extracting dark matter signatures from atomic clock stability measurements
• Preliminary constraints on the location of the recently hypothesized new planet of the Solar System from planetary orbital dynamics
• The local dark sector. Probing gravitation's low-acceleration frontier and dark matter in the Solar System neighborhood
• Interferometric Measurement of Acceleration at Relativistic Speeds
• Blowing in the Dark Matter Wind
• Deep space experiment to measure $G$
• Detecting Ultralight Dark Matter with Matter Effect
• Searching for a Black Hole in the Outer Solar System
• The Brute-Force Search for Planet Nine
• A Search for Planet Nine with IRAS and AKARI Data
• Nonlocal Gravity: Modification of Newtonian Gravitational Force in the Solar System