Constraints on New Gravitylike Forces in the Nanometer Range

Abstract

We report on a new constraint on gravitylike short-range forces, in which the interaction charge is mass, obtained by measuring the angular distribution of 5 \AA{} neutrons scattering off atomic xenon gas. Around $1{0}^{7}$ scattering events were collected at the 40 m small angle neutron scattering beam line located at the HANARO research reactor of the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute. The extracted coupling strengths of new forces in the Yukawa-type parametrization are ${\stackrel{^}{g}}^{2}=(0.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}6.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2.0)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1{0}^{\ensuremath{-}15}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{GeV}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ and ${\stackrel{^}{g}}^{2}=(\ensuremath{-}5.3\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}9.{0}_{\ensuremath{-}2.8}^{+2.7})\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1{0}^{\ensuremath{-}17}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{GeV}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ for interaction ranges of 0.1 and 1.0 nm, respectively. These strengths correspond to 95% confidence level limits of ${g}^{2}<(1.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1{0}^{\ensuremath{-}14}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{GeV}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ and ${g}^{2}<(1.3\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1{0}^{\ensuremath{-}16}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{GeV}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$, improving the current limits for interaction ranges between 4 and 0.04 nm by a factor of up to 10.