NPA Seminar, Alex Fieguth, Stanford University, “Probing Fundamental Physics With Levitated Force Sensors”

Microspheres have been the first objects optically levitated by Arthur Ashkin in the 1970s. While the technology itself was successfully used to trap atoms to explore new physics, the actual utilization of microspheres and other macroscopic objects as a useful tool for physics has emerged in the recent years. The unique properties of those levitated objects allows to deploy them as sensors with unmatched properties and advantages.
​​​​​​​In this talk I will show recent demonstrations of the capabilities of microspheres as force sensors to probe minute charges far below of the size of the elementary charge as well as show how we can probe for new forces coupling to mass at short ranges. I will also discuss what is limiting the sensitivity to reach an actual measurement of the Newtonian gravitational force at scales below 40 um and explore recent advances in understanding the levitodynamics of the microspheres.
Please email the host for the Zoom connection information.
Host: Michael Jewell, michael.jewell@yale.edu