Three-axis superconducting gravity gradiometer for sensitive gravity experiments

Superconducting differential accelerometers have been used to test Newton’s inverse square law and have been proposed for other sensitive experiments. These include searches for spin-mass coupling, detecting Earth’s gravitomagnetic field, and testing the Equivalence Principle. This article discusses the principle and performance of a sensitive three-axis gravity gradiometer. This device utilizes quantized flux and the Meissner effect to provide stable test mass levitation and signal coupling, and superconducting quantum interference devices to provide very low-noise amplification of the signals. The instrument comprises a total of nine superconducting accelerometers, six linear and three angular. This configuration permits simultaneous measurement of the diagonal components of the gravity gradient tensor as well as platform acceleration in all six degrees of freedom. An analysis of this instrument is presented along with experimental results. Methods to correct for various motion-induced errors are demons...

[1]  Moody,et al.  Superconducting gravity gradiometer for sensitive gravity measurements. II. Experiment. , 1987, Physical review. D, Particles and fields.

[2]  S. Dimopoulos,et al.  Millimetre-Range Forces in Superstring Theories with Weak-Scale Compactification , 1997, hep-ph/9710204.

[3]  Harold Weinstock,et al.  SQUID sensors : fundamentals, fabrication, and applications , 1996 .

[4]  J. Brozena,et al.  An airborne gravity study of eastern North Carolina , 1988 .

[5]  Edward J. Krakiwsky,et al.  Geodesy, the concepts , 1982 .

[6]  J. Parker,et al.  Global gravity survey by an orbiting gravity gradiometer , 1988 .

[7]  Paik,et al.  Superconducting gravity gradiometer for sensitive gravity measurements. I. Theory. , 1987, Physical review. D, Particles and fields.

[8]  M. Moody,et al.  Superconducting gravity gradiometer for space and terrestrial applications , 1986 .

[9]  L. L. Nettleton.  Elementary gravity and magnetics for geologists and seismologists , 1971 .

[10]  Moody,et al.  Gauss's law test of gravity at short range. , 1993, Physical review letters.

[11]  C. Jekeli.  A review of gravity gradiometer survey system data analyses , 1993 .

[12]  Airborne gravimetry from a small twin engine aircraft over the Long Island Sound , 1991 .

[13]  H. Paik,et al.  Superconducting gravity gradiometers on STEP and GEM , 1996 .

[14]  Hinghung Anthony Chan.  Null Test of the Gravitational Inverse Square Law with a Superconducting Gravity Gradiometer. , 1982 .

[15]  H. Paik.  Superconducting tunable‐diaphragm transducer for sensitive acceleration measurements , 1976 .

[16]  C. Stubbs,et al.  Searches for New Macroscopic Forces , 1991 .

[17]  Paik,et al.  Detection of the gravitomagnetic field using an orbiting superconducting gravity gradiometer. Theoretical principles. , 1989, Physical review. D, Particles and fields.

[18]  M. Buckingham,et al.  Performance of a superconducting gravity gradiometer , 1994 .