February 8 - 4:00pm Phys 223
(Coffee at 3:30p.m. in room 242)

Eric G. Adelberger
Department of Physics
University of Washington

Title: "Sub-millimeter Tests of the Gravitational Inverse Square Law"

Abstract:
It is remarkable that questions about gravitation, the oldest known interaction in physics, are again at the center of physics and that small-scale experiments can address important open issues. Modern string theory ideas (new stringy particles and extra dimensions) hint that both Einstein's Equivalence Principle and Newton's Inverse-Square Law may not be exact. I will discuss motivations (large-extra dimensions, a small cosmological constant), techniques (torsion and beam balances), and results of such tests, emphasizing the Eot-Wash group's recent test of the Inverse-Square Law for length scales down to 100 micrometers.

(see our Web page at http://www.npl.washington.edu/eotwash/index.html)