Measurements of the gravitational constant using two independent methods

Nature
Qing LiJun Luo

Abstract

The Newtonian gravitational constant, G, is one of the most fundamental constants of nature, but we still do not have an accurate value for it. Despite two centuries of experimental effort, the value of G remains the least precisely known of the fundamental constants. A discrepancy of up to 0.05 per cent in recent determinations of G suggests that there may be undiscovered systematic errors in the various existing methods. One way to resolve this issue is to measure G using a number of methods that are unlikely to involve the same systematic effects. Here we report two independent determinations of G using torsion pendulum experiments with the time-of-swing method and the angular-acceleration-feedback method. We obtain G values of 6.674184 × 10-11 and 6.674484 × 10-11 cubic metres per kilogram per second squared, with relative standard uncertainties of 11.64 and 11.61 parts per million, respectively. These values have the smallest uncertainties reported until now, and both agree with the latest recommended value within two standard deviations.

References

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Dec 3, 2017·The Review of Scientific Instruments·C Rothleitner, S Schlamminger

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Citations

Aug 31, 2018·Nature·Stephan Schlamminger
Jun 23, 2020·Physical Review Letters·Seth B Cataño-LopezNobuyuki Matsumoto
Jun 12, 2021·Physical Review Letters·Jun KeShan-Qing Yang
Jul 11, 2021·The Review of Scientific Instruments·De-Kai MaoZhong-Kun Hu
Jul 11, 2021·The Review of Scientific Instruments·M P RossJ H Gundlach
Aug 17, 2021·Physical Review Letters·Tianyu XieJiangfeng Du
Mar 12, 2021·Nature·Christian Rothleitner

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