The French satellite MICROSCOPE mission has shown the weak equivalence principle, a crucial part of Einstein's general relativity theory that was created in 1915.
Albert Einstein's general relativity theory, published in 1915, explains how gravity functions and connects to time and space.
However, because it does not account for the facts of quantum events, scientists hunt for inconsistencies in theory at progressively higher degrees of accuracy and under different conditions.
La Voz explained that these infractions would point to new interactions or forces that may link quantum physics with relativity. Examining the weak equivalence principle (WEP) is one method for searching for possible extensions of general relativity.
The WEP states that regardless of their mass or composition, objects in a gravitational field fall similarly when other forces are absent.
MICROSCOPE Proves The Theory of Relativity Right
The MICROSCOPE team created its experiment to measure the Eötvös ratio, which connects the accelerations of two objects in free fall, with incredibly high accuracy to prove the theory.
The experiment would measure and find this breach of the WEP if the acceleration of one item differed from that of the other by more than one part in 10 increased to 15.
Because general relativity, the greatest description of gravity, conflicts with quantum physics, the best model we have of reality at unfathomably small scales, scientists continue to search for such aberrations.
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No indication of divergence suggests that there are still no hints of general relativity extensions that may connect it to quantum physics.
"We have new and much better constraints for any future theory because these theories must not violate the equivalence principle at this level," Gilles Métris, a MICROSCOPE team member and a scientist at the Côte d'Azur Observatory in France, said in a statement from the American Physical Society, which published the research.
The researchers identified no breaches of the weak equivalence principle bigger than that.
Their findings, which represent the conclusion of 20 years of study, showed that acceleration in pairs of objects in free fall differed by no more than 1 part in 1015, or 0.000000000000001.
MICROSCOPE's Study
Space.com said the strongest limits on this aspect of general relativity had been placed on it by the recent research's failure to detect any violations of the weak equivalence principle. The findings also provide the foundation for future studies that will be even more sensitive.
That's due to the researchers' inclusion of recommendations for enhancing the experimental design they employed. They suggested possible improvements, such as smoothing out satellite coating flaws that might affect acceleration readings and switching to wireless systems instead of wired ones.
The MICROSCOPE mission began in April 2016, and mission personnel published their initial findings in 2017. Even after the experiment's conclusion in 2018, data analysis has continued.
With these upgrades, a satellite maybe 100 times more sensitive than MICROSCOPE and detect weak equivalence principle violations as little as 1 part in 1017. The MICROSCOPE experiment will continue to be the best way to test the weak equivalence principle for the foreseeable being, according to the team's prediction that these enhancements won't be possible for a while.
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