Thermal noise limitations to force measurements with torsion pendulums: Applications to the measurement of the Casimir force and its thermal correction

摘要

A general analysis of thermal noise in torsion pendulums is presented. Thespecific case where the torsion angle is kept fixed by electronic feedback isanalyzed. This analysis is applied to a recent experiment that employed atorsion pendulum to measure the Casimir force. The ultimate limit to thedistance at which the Casimir force can be measured to high accuracy isdiscussed, and in particular the prospects for measuring the thermal correctionare elaborated upon.