A nanonewton force facility and a novel method for measurements of the air and vacuum permittivity at zero frequencies

作者：Nesterov Vladimir^*

来源：Measurement Science and Technology, 2009, 20(8): 084012.

DOI：10.1088/0957-0233/20/8/084012

• nanonewton
• electrostatic stiffness reduction
• disk-pendulum
• permittivity of the vacuum
• dispersion of the vacuum

A nanonewton force facility, based on a disk-pendulum with electrostatic stiffness reduction and electrostatic force compensation, for the measurement of horizontal forces in the range below 1 mu N, is presented. It consists of a measuring system and an identical reference system. Recent experiments with the nanonewton force facility have achieved agreement between an electrostatic force and a gravitational force of 80 nN with an uncertainty of less than 3%. A novel method for measurements of the air (vacuum) permittivity at zero frequencies by means of the nanonewton force facility is presented. First measurements in air show a permittivity of the air epsilon approximate to 8.71 x 10(-12) F m(-1) with an uncertainty of 3%. From a theoretical analysis, it follows that this method can be used for the measurement of the vacuum permittivity epsilon(0) at zero frequencies with a relative uncertainty of about 10(-5). The precise measurement of the vacuum permittivity epsilon(0) for an electrostatic field would be another test for the correctness of Maxwell's equations.

• 出版日期2009-8