The WEAX experiment
2001; IOP Publishing; Volume: 18; Issue: 13 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1088/0264-9381/18/13/308
ISSN1361-6382
AutoresFelix Huber, Ernst Messerschmid, Gerald A. Smith,
Tópico(s)Relativity and Gravitational Theory
ResumoEinstein's weak equivalence principle (WEP) states that gravitational mass is identical to inertial mass. This hypothesis has withstood experimental tests to an impressive accuracy of one part in 1011. Various hypotheses based on theory and observations with matter suggest violations of WEP for antimatter may exist anywhere from the one part in 106 to the 200% level. An observed violation at any level would have a profound impact, e.g. it would offer an explanation as to why matter and antimatter are so distinctly separated in the cosmos. We propose a precise test of WEP for antiprotons in microgravity. We expect to test WEP for antimatter to about one part in 106, and foresee that additional advancements of several orders of magnitude in precision could follow with further technical developments.
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