Progress on the precision measurement of the Newtonian gravitational constant G

Liu Jian-Ping; Wu Jun-Fei; Li Qing; Xue Chao; Mao De-Kai; Yang Shan-Qing; Shao Cheng-Gang; Tu Liang-Cheng; Hu Zhong-Kun; Luo Jun

doi:10.7498/aps.67.20181381

Abstract

The Newtonian gravitational constant G is the first fundamental physics constant introduced by human beings. It plays an important role in many fields, such as theoretical physics, astrophysics, and geophysics. Its precision measurement and related research is of great significance to the whole experimental physics. However, the measuring accuracy of G is the worst among all fundamental physical constants, which reflects the great complexity and difficulty in determining G. This paper briefly reviews the history of G measurement, and also introduces the current research progress in this field by a summary of the recent three precision measurements of G. At the end of the paper, the latest developments of the G measurement in the center of gravitational experiments at Huazhong University of Science and Technology are introduced.

Keywords:

Authors and contacts

1.
MOE Key Laboratory of Fundamental Physical Quantities Measurements, Hubei Key Laboratory of Gravitation and Quantum Physics, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China;
2.
TianQin Research Center for Gravitational Physics, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China

Corresponding author: Yang Shan-Qing, ysq2011@hust.edu.cn;junluo@hust.edu.cn ; Luo Jun, ysq2011@hust.edu.cn;junluo@hust.edu.cn

Funds: Project supported by the Major Research Plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91536223) and the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2010CB832801).

References

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[53]	Heyl P R, Chrzanowski P A 1942 J. Res. Natl. Bur. Stand. 29 1
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[55]	Newman R D, Bantel M K 1999 Meas. Sci. Technol. 10 445
[56]	Kuroda K 1999 Meas. Sci. Technol. 10 435
[57]	Luo J, Hu Z K, Fu X H, Fan S H, Tang M X 1998 Phys. Rev. D 59 042001
[58]	Yang S Q, Tu L C, Shao C G, Li Q, Wang Q L, Zhou Z B, Luo J 2009 Phys. Rev. D 80 122005
[59]	Kasevich M, Chu S 1991 Phys. Rev. Lett. 67 181
[60]	Fixler J B, Foster G T, McGurirk J M, Kasevich M A 2007 Science 315 74
[61]	Lamporesi G, Bertoldi A, Cacciapuoti L, Prevedelli M, Tino G M 2008 Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 050801
[62]	Quinn T 2000 Nature 408 919
[63]	Quinn T 2014 Nature 505 455
[64]	Schlamminger S 2014 Nature 510 478
[65]	Gibney E 2014 Nature 514 150
[66]	Li Q, Liu J P, Zhao H H, Yang S Q, Tu L C, Liu Q, Shao C G, Hu Z K, Milyukov V, Luo J 2014 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 372 20140141
[67]	Numata K, Horowitz J, Camp, J 2007 Phys. Lett. A 370 91
[68]	Fan X D, Liu Q, Liu L X, Milyukov V, Luo J 2008 Phys. Lett. A 372 547
[69]	Gundlach J H, Adelberger E G, Heckel B R, Swanson H E 1996 Phys. Rev. D 54 R1256
[70]	Gundlach J H 1999 Meas. Sci. Technol. 10 454
[71]	Rose R D, Parker H M, Lowry R A, Kuhlthau A R, Beams J W 1969 Phys. Rev. Lett. 23 655
[72]	Xue C, Quan L D, Yang S Q, Wang B P, Wu J F, Shao C G, Tu L C, Milyukov V, Luo J 2014 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 372 20140031
[73]	Quan L D, Xue C, Shao C G, Yang S Q, Tu L C, Wang Y J, Luo J 2014 Rev. Sci. Instrum. 85 014501
[74]	https://www.bipm.org/utils/en/pdf/CIPM/CIPM2014-Ⅱ-Decisions-EN.pdf [2014-12-10]

Cited By

[1]	Newton I (translated by Zhao Z J) 2006 Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Beijing: The Commercial Press) pp237-277 (in Chinese) [牛顿I 著 (赵振江译) 2006 自然哲学的数学原理(北京: 商务印书馆) 第237–277页]
[2]	Herrick S 1971 Astrodynamics: Orbit Determination, Space Navigation, Celestial Mechanics (Vol. I) (London: Van Nostrand Reinhold) pp127-163
[3]	Ries J C, Eanes R J, Shum C K, Watkin M M 1992 Geophys. Res. Lett. 19 529
[4]	Ezer D, Cameron A G W 1966 Can. J. Phys. 44 593
[5]	Tomilin K A 1999 Proceedings of the XXⅡ Workshop on High Energy Physics and Field Theory (CiteSeer)
[6]	Planck M 1990 Ann. Phys. 306 69
[7]	McQueen H W S 1981 Phys. Earth Planet Inter. 26 6
[8]	Dirac P A M 1937 Nature 139 323
[9]	Dirac P A M 1938 Roy. Soc. Lond. Proc. A 165 199
[10]	Dirac P A M 1974 Roy. Soc. Lond. Proc. A 338 439
[11]	Weinberg S 1989 Rev. Mod. Phys. 61 1
[12]	Brans C, Dicke R H 1961 Phys. Rev. 124 925
[13]	Hellings R W 1988 NATO Advanced Science Institute Series C 230 215
[14]	Massa C 1989 Helv. Phys. Act. 62 424
[15]	Long D R 1976 Nature 260 417
[16]	Eötvös R V, Pekar D, Fekete E 1922 Ann. Phys. (Leipz.) 68 11
[17]	Fischbach E, Sudarsky D, Szafer A, Talmadge C, Aronson S H 1986 Phys. Rev. Lett. 56 3
[18]	Fischbach E, Talmadge C 1992 Nature 356 207
[19]	Cook A H 1988 Rep. Prog. Phys. 51 707
[20]	Cavendish H 1798 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 88 469
[21]	Gillies G T 1987 Metrologia 24(S) 1
[22]	Rothleitner C, Schlamminger S 2017 Rev. Sci. Instrum. 88 111101
[23]	Cohen E R, Taylor B N 1973 J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 2 663
[24]	Cohen E R, Taylor B N 1987 Rev. Mod. Phys. 59 1121
[25]	Mohr P J, Taylor B N 2000 Rev. Mod. Phys. 72 351
[26]	Mohr P J, Taylor B N 2005 Rev. Mod. Phys. 77 1
[27]	Mohr P J, Taylor B N, Newell D B 2008 Rev. Mod. Phys. 80 633
[28]	Mohr P J, Taylor B N, Newell D B 2012 Rev. Mod. Phys. 84 1527
[29]	Mohr P J, Newell D B, Taylor B N 2016 Rev. Mod. Phys. 88 035009
[30]	Michaelis W, Haars H, Augustin R 1996 Metrologia 32 267
[31]	Luther G G, Towler W R 1982 Phys. Rev. L 48 121
[32]	Karagioz O V, Izmailov V P 1996 Meas. Tech. 39 979
[33]	Bagley C H, Luther G G 1997 Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 3047
[34]	Gundlach J H, Merkowitz S M 2000 Phys. Rev. Lett. 85 2869
[35]	Quinn T J, Speake C C, Richman S J, Davis R S, Picard A A 2001 Phys. Rev. Lett. 87 111101
[36]	Kleinevoß U 2002 Bestimmung der Newtonschen Gravitationskonstanten G Disertation for the Doctoral Degree (Wuppertald: University of Wuppertald)
[37]	Armstrong T R, Fitzgerald M P 2003 Phys. Rev. Lett. 91 201101
[38]	Hu Z K, Guo J Q, Luo J 2005 Phys. Rev. D 71 127505
[39]	Schlamminger S, Holzschuh E, Kundig W, Nolting F, Pixley R E, Schurr J, Straumann U 2006 Phys. Rev. D 74 082001
[40]	Luo J, Liu Q, Tu L C, Shao C G, Liu L X, Yang S Q, Li Q, Zhang Y T 2009 Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 240801
[41]	Tu L C, Li Q, Wang Q L, Shao C G, Yang S Q, Liu L X, Liu Q, Luo J 2010 Phys. Rev. D 82 022001
[42]	Parks H V, Faller J E 2010 Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 110801
[43]	Quinn T J, Parks H V, Speake C C, Davis R S 2013 Phys. Rev. Lett. 111 101102
[44]	Rosi G, Sorrentino F, Cacciapuoti L, Prevedelli M, Tino G M 2014 Nature 510 518
[45]	Newman R, Bantel M, Berg E, Cross W 2014 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 372 20140025
[46]	Schlamminger S, Holzschuh E, Kndig W 2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 89 161102
[47]	Tu L C, Li Q, Shao C G, Hu Z K, Luo J 2011 Sci. Sin. Phys. Mech. Astron. 41 691 (in Chinese) [涂良成, 黎卿, 邵成刚, 胡忠坤, 罗俊 2011 中国科学: 物理学力学天文学 41 691]
[48]	Gillies G T, Ritter T C 1993 Rev. Sci. Instrum. 64 283
[49]	Quinn T, Speake C, Parks H, Davis R 2014 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 372 20140032
[50]	Fitzgerald M P, Armstrong T R 1995 IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 44 494
[51]	Fitzgerald M P, Armstrong T R 1999 Meas. Sci. Technol. 10 439
[52]	Heyl P R 1930 J. Res. Natl. Bur. Stand. 5 1243
[53]	Heyl P R, Chrzanowski P A 1942 J. Res. Natl. Bur. Stand. 29 1
[54]	Kuroda, K 1995 Phys. Rev. Lett. 75 2796
[55]	Newman R D, Bantel M K 1999 Meas. Sci. Technol. 10 445
[56]	Kuroda K 1999 Meas. Sci. Technol. 10 435
[57]	Luo J, Hu Z K, Fu X H, Fan S H, Tang M X 1998 Phys. Rev. D 59 042001
[58]	Yang S Q, Tu L C, Shao C G, Li Q, Wang Q L, Zhou Z B, Luo J 2009 Phys. Rev. D 80 122005
[59]	Kasevich M, Chu S 1991 Phys. Rev. Lett. 67 181
[60]	Fixler J B, Foster G T, McGurirk J M, Kasevich M A 2007 Science 315 74
[61]	Lamporesi G, Bertoldi A, Cacciapuoti L, Prevedelli M, Tino G M 2008 Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 050801
[62]	Quinn T 2000 Nature 408 919
[63]	Quinn T 2014 Nature 505 455
[64]	Schlamminger S 2014 Nature 510 478
[65]	Gibney E 2014 Nature 514 150
[66]	Li Q, Liu J P, Zhao H H, Yang S Q, Tu L C, Liu Q, Shao C G, Hu Z K, Milyukov V, Luo J 2014 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 372 20140141
[67]	Numata K, Horowitz J, Camp, J 2007 Phys. Lett. A 370 91
[68]	Fan X D, Liu Q, Liu L X, Milyukov V, Luo J 2008 Phys. Lett. A 372 547
[69]	Gundlach J H, Adelberger E G, Heckel B R, Swanson H E 1996 Phys. Rev. D 54 R1256
[70]	Gundlach J H 1999 Meas. Sci. Technol. 10 454
[71]	Rose R D, Parker H M, Lowry R A, Kuhlthau A R, Beams J W 1969 Phys. Rev. Lett. 23 655
[72]	Xue C, Quan L D, Yang S Q, Wang B P, Wu J F, Shao C G, Tu L C, Milyukov V, Luo J 2014 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 372 20140031
[73]	Quan L D, Xue C, Shao C G, Yang S Q, Tu L C, Wang Y J, Luo J 2014 Rev. Sci. Instrum. 85 014501
[74]	https://www.bipm.org/utils/en/pdf/CIPM/CIPM2014-Ⅱ-Decisions-EN.pdf [2014-12-10]

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