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MICROSCOPE Mission: First Results of a Space Test of the Equivalence Principle

Pierre Touboul1,*, Gilles Métris2,†, Manuel Rodrigues1,‡, Yves André3, Quentin Baghi2, Joël Bergé1, Damien Boulanger1, Stefanie Bremer4, Patrice Carle1 et al.

Ratana Chhun1, Bruno Christophe1, Valerio Cipolla3, Thibault Damour5, Pascale Danto3, Hansjoerg Dittus6, Pierre Fayet7, Bernard Foulon1, Claude Gageant1, Pierre-Yves Guidotti3, Daniel Hagedorn8, Emilie Hardy1, Phuong-Anh Huynh1, Henri Inchauspe1, Patrick Kayser1, Stéphanie Lala1, Claus Lämmerzahl4, Vincent Lebat1, Pierre Leseur1, Françoise Liorzou1, Meike List4, Frank Löffler8, Isabelle Panet9, Benjamin Pouilloux3, Pascal Prieur3, Alexandre Rebray1, Serge Reynaud10, Benny Rievers4, Alain Robert3, Hanns Selig4, Laura Serron2, Timothy Sumner11, Nicolas Tanguy1, and Pieter Visser12

  • 1ONERA, chemin de la Hunière, BP 80100, F-91123 Palaiseau Cedex, France
  • 2Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, IRD, Géoazur, 250 Avenue Albert Einstein, F-06560 Valbonne, France
  • 3CNES, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, F-31401 Toulouse, France
  • 4ZARM, Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity, University of Bremen, Am Fallturm, D-28359 Bremen, Germany
  • 5IHES, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, 35 route de Chartres, F-91440 Bures-sur-Yvette, France
  • 6DLR, Köln Headquarters, Linder Höhe, 51147 Köln, Germany
  • 7LPTENS, École Normale Supérieure (PSL Research University), 24 Rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
  • 8PTB, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany
  • 9IGN, Institut Géographique National, 73 Avenue de Paris, F-94160 Saint Mandé, France
  • 10Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, UPMC-Sorbonne Université, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, Collège de France, F-75005 Paris, France
  • 11Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
  • 12Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Kluyverweg 1, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands

  • *Pierre.Touboul@onera.fr
  • †Gilles.Metris@oca.eu
  • ‡Manuel.Rodrigues@onera.fr
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 231101 – Published 4 December, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.231101

Abstract

According to the weak equivalence principle, all bodies should fall at the same rate in a gravitational field. The MICROSCOPE satellite, launched in April 2016, aims to test its validity at the 10−15 precision level, by measuring the force required to maintain two test masses (of titanium and platinum alloys) exactly in the same orbit. A nonvanishing result would correspond to a violation of the equivalence principle, or to the discovery of a new long-range force. Analysis of the first data gives δ(Ti,Pt)=[−1±9(stat)±9(syst)]×10−15 (1σ statistical uncertainty) for the titanium-platinum Eötvös parameter characterizing the relative difference in their free-fall accelerations.

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Synopsis

Space Tests of the Equivalence Principle

Published 4 December, 2017

The MICROSCOPE satellite mission has tested the equivalence principle with unprecedented precision, showing no deviations from the predictions of general relativity.

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Article Text

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 231101– Published 4 December, 2017
  • Received 12 May 2017

© 2017 American Physical Society

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