Novel Tests of Gravity Below 50 Microns

Some models for the unification of the Standard Model and General Relativity predict deviations from the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) and the Gravitational Inverse Square Law (ISL) at certain distance regimes. In order to investigate these predictions, tests of gravity at these regimes need to be conducted to increase our understanding of gravity on a fundamental level. Undergraduate researchers and faculty at Cal Poly Humboldt are conducting tests of gravity at distances under 50 microns. These short-range gravity tests are being conducted using a torsion pendulum which is symmetrically composed of two materials of equal mass placed opposite an oscillating attractor mass. Due to the sensitivity of these tests, environmental effects such as the thermal conditions of the laboratory, stray electrical and magnetic fields, and the tilt of the building housing the apparatus all must be characterized and reduced as much as possible. We have implemented various systems to reduce the noise from each of these sources as much as possible.