Measurements of the gravitational constant using two independent methods

Qing Li,Chao Xue,Jian-Ping Liu,Jun-Fei Wu,Shan-Qing Yang,Cheng-Gang Shao,Li-Di Quan,Wen-Hai Tan,Liang-Cheng Tu,Qi Liu,Hao Xu,Lin-Xia Liu,Qing-Lan Wang,Zhong-Kun Hu,Ze-Bing Zhou,Peng-Shun Luo,Shu-Chao Wu,Vadim Milyukov & Jun Luo

Naturevolume (Article) 560, pages582–588 (2018)

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.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0431-5

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0431-5

Publication history: Received: 29 April 2018； Accepted: 05 July 2018； Published:29 August 2018

Authors:  These authors contributed equally: Qing Li, Chao Xue, Jian-Ping Liu, Jun-Fei Wu

Affiliations:

1. MOE Key Laboratory of Fundamental Physical Quantities Measurements, Hubei Key Laboratory of Gravitation and Quantum Physics, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

• Qing Li, Jian-Ping Liu, Jun-Fei Wu, Shan-Qing Yang, Cheng-Gang Shao, Wen-Hai Tan, Liang-Cheng Tu, Hao Xu, Zhong-Kun Hu, Ze-Bing Zhou, Peng-Shun Luo, Shu-Chao Wu& Jun Luo

2. TianQin Research Center for Gravitational Physics, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China

• Chao Xue, Liang-Cheng Tu, Qi Liu& Jun Luo

3. School of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China

• Chao Xue, Qi Liu& Jun Luo

4. College of Engineering, Huzhou University, Huzhou, China

• Li-Di Quan

5. Teaching Research and Assessment Center, Henan Institute of Technology, Xinxiang, China

• Lin-Xia Liu

6. School of Science, Hubei University of Automotive Technology, Shiyan, China

• Qing-Lan Wang

7. Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

• Vadim Milyukov