MICROSCOPE Mission

Final Results of the Test of the Equivalence Principle

authored by: Pierre Touboul, Gilles Métris, Manuel Rodrigues, Joel Bergé, Alain Robert, Quentin Baghi, Yves André, Judicaël Bedouet, Damien Boulanger, Stefanie Bremer, Patrice Carle, Ratana Chhun, Bruno Christophe, Valerio Cipolla, Thibault Damour, Pascale Danto, Louis Demange, Hansjoerg Dittus, Océane Dhuicque, Pierre Fayet, Bernard Foulon, Pierre Yves Guidotti, Daniel Hagedorn, Emilie Hardy, Phuong Anh Huynh, Patrick Kayser, Stéphanie Lala, Claus Lämmerzahl, Vincent Lebat, Françoise Liorzou, Meike List, Frank Löffler, Isabelle Panet, Martin Pernot-Borràs, Laurent Perraud, Sandrine Pires, Benjamin Pouilloux, Pascal Prieur, Alexandre Rebray, Serge Reynaud, Benny Rievers, Hanns Selig, Laura Serron, Timothy Sumner, Nicolas Tanguy, Patrizia Torresi, Pieter Visser
Abstract: The MICROSCOPE mission was designed to test the weak equivalence principle (WEP), stating the equality between the inertial and the gravitational masses, with a precision of 10-15 in terms of the Eötvös ratio η. Its experimental test consisted of comparing the accelerations undergone by two collocated test masses of different compositions as they orbited the Earth, by measuring the electrostatic forces required to keep them in equilibrium. This was done with ultrasensitive differential electrostatic accelerometers onboard a drag-free satellite. The mission lasted two and a half years, cumulating five months worth of science free-fall data, two-thirds with a pair of test masses of different compositions - titanium and platinum alloys - and the last third with a reference pair of test masses of the same composition - platinum. We summarize the data analysis, with an emphasis on the characterization of the systematic uncertainties due to thermal instabilities and on the correction of short-lived events which could mimic a WEP violation signal. We found no violation of the WEP, with the Eötvös parameter of the titanium and platinum pair constrained to η(Ti,Pt)=[-1.5±2.3(stat)±1.5(syst)]×10-15 at 1σ in statistical errors.
External Organisation(s): Université Paris-Saclay
Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (OCA)
Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES)
Universite de Toulouse
Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
PSL Research University
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt PTB
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP)
Universite Paris 6
Imperial College London
Delft University of Technology
Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM)
University of Bremen
Type: Article
Journal: Physical review letters
Volume: 129
ISSN: 0031-9007
Publication date: 16.09.2022
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General Physics and Astronomy
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.121102 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{2a6129dffaf544268b49a0b5a28620e1,
title = "MICROSCOPE Mission: Final Results of the Test of the Equivalence Principle",
abstract = "The MICROSCOPE mission was designed to test the weak equivalence principle (WEP), stating the equality between the inertial and the gravitational masses, with a precision of 10-15 in terms of the E{\"o}tv{\"o}s ratio η. Its experimental test consisted of comparing the accelerations undergone by two collocated test masses of different compositions as they orbited the Earth, by measuring the electrostatic forces required to keep them in equilibrium. This was done with ultrasensitive differential electrostatic accelerometers onboard a drag-free satellite. The mission lasted two and a half years, cumulating five months worth of science free-fall data, two-thirds with a pair of test masses of different compositions - titanium and platinum alloys - and the last third with a reference pair of test masses of the same composition - platinum. We summarize the data analysis, with an emphasis on the characterization of the systematic uncertainties due to thermal instabilities and on the correction of short-lived events which could mimic a WEP violation signal. We found no violation of the WEP, with the E{\"o}tv{\"o}s parameter of the titanium and platinum pair constrained to η(Ti,Pt)=[-1.5±2.3(stat)±1.5(syst)]×10-15 at 1σ in statistical errors.",
author = "Pierre Touboul and Gilles M{\'e}tris and Manuel Rodrigues and Joel Berg{\'e} and Alain Robert and Quentin Baghi and Yves Andr{\'e} and Judica{\"e}l Bedouet and Damien Boulanger and Stefanie Bremer and Patrice Carle and Ratana Chhun and Bruno Christophe and Valerio Cipolla and Thibault Damour and Pascale Danto and Louis Demange and Hansjoerg Dittus and Oc{\'e}ane Dhuicque and Pierre Fayet and Bernard Foulon and Guidotti, {Pierre Yves} and Daniel Hagedorn and Emilie Hardy and Huynh, {Phuong Anh} and Patrick Kayser and St{\'e}phanie Lala and Claus L{\"a}mmerzahl and Vincent Lebat and Fran{\c c}oise Liorzou and Meike List and Frank L{\"o}ffler and Isabelle Panet and Martin Pernot-Borr{\`a}s and Laurent Perraud and Sandrine Pires and Benjamin Pouilloux and Pascal Prieur and Alexandre Rebray and Serge Reynaud and Benny Rievers and Hanns Selig and Laura Serron and Timothy Sumner and Nicolas Tanguy and Patrizia Torresi and Pieter Visser",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 American Physical Society.",
year = "2022",
month = sep,
day = "16",
doi = "10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.121102",
language = "English",
volume = "129",
journal = "Physical review letters",
issn = "0031-9007",
publisher = "American Physical Society",
number = "12",
}