Bergé Joel
DPHY, ONERA, Université Paris Saclay, F-92322 Châtillon, France.
Rep Prog Phys. 2023 May 17;86(6). doi: 10.1088/1361-6633/acd203.
The weak equivalence principle (WEP) is the cornerstone of general relativity (GR). Testing it is thus a natural way to confront GR to experiments, which has been pursued for four centuries with increasing precision. MICROSCOPE is a space mission designed to test the WEP with a precision of 1 in 10parts, two orders of magnitude better than previous experimental constraints. After completing its two-year mission, from 2016 to 2018, MICROSCOPE delivered unprecedented precise constraintsη(Ti,Pt)=[-1.5±2.3 (stat)±1.5 (syst)]×10-15(at 1in statistical errors) on the Eötvös parameter between one proof mass made of titanium and another made of platinum. This bound allowed for improved constraints on alternative theories of gravitation. This review discusses the science beyond MICROSCOPE-GR and its alternatives, with an emphasis on scalar-tensor theories-before presenting the experimental concept and apparatus. The mission's science returns are then discussed before future tests of the WEP are introduced.
弱等效原理（WEP）是广义相对论（GR）的基石。因此，对其进行测试是使广义相对论接受实验检验的自然方式，四个世纪以来人们一直在以越来越高的精度进行此项工作。“显微镜”（MICROSCOPE）是一项太空任务，旨在以10的10次方分之一的精度测试弱等效原理，比之前的实验限制精度高出两个数量级。在完成从2016年到2018年的两年任务后，“显微镜”给出了前所未有的精确限制，即由钛制成的一个检验质量块和由铂制成的另一个检验质量块之间的厄缶参数η（Ti，Pt）=[-1.5±2.3 （统计）±1.5 （系统）]×10⁻¹⁵（统计误差为10的10次方分之一）。这一限制使得对替代引力理论的限制得到了改进。在介绍实验概念和仪器之前，本综述讨论了“显微镜”之外的科学——广义相对论及其替代理论，尤其着重于标量-张量理论。接着讨论了该任务的科学成果，然后介绍了未来对弱等效原理的测试。
