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Exploring the foundations of the physical universe with space tests of the equivalence principle

Métris, Gilles; Rodrigues, Manuel; Loriani, Sina +34 more

We present the scientific motivation for future space tests of the equivalence principle, and in particular the universality of free fall, at the 10^{− 17} level or better. Two possible mission scenarios, one based on quantum technologies, the other on electrostatic accelerometers, that could reach that goal are briefly discussed. This pub…

Constraints on chameleon gravity from the measurement of the electrostatic stiffness of the M I C R O S C O P E mission accelerometers

Bergé, Joel; Pernot-Borràs, Martin; Uzan, Jean-Philippe +4 more

This article is dedicated to the use the MICROSCOPE mission's data to test chameleon theory of gravity. We take advantage of the technical sessions aimed to characterize the electrostatic stiffness of MICROSCOPE's instrument intrinsic to its capacitive measurement system. Any discrepancy between the expected and measured stiffness may result from …

The local dark sector

Rhodes, Jason; Bergé, Joel; Pernot-Borràs, Martin +18 more

We speculate on the development and availability of new innovative propulsion techniques in the 2040s, that will allow us to fly a spacecraft outside the Solar System (at 150 AU and more) in a reasonable amount of time, in order to directly probe our (gravitational) Solar System neighborhood and answer pressing questions regarding the dark sector …

Methods to determine thermal sensitivity of T-SAGE instrument for MICROSCOPE mission

Métris, Gilles; Rodrigues, Manuel; Touboul, Pierre +1 more

MICROSCOPE is a space mission launched in 2016 that aims to test the validity of the Equivalence Principle (EP), the main postulate of General Relativity (GR), with a precision never reached before (Touboul et al., 2001). EP states that two bodies of different compositions and masses fall with the same acceleration in the same gravitational field.…