When
Where
Title
The Vexing Quest to Pin Down the Gravitational Constant
Abstract
The gravitational constant, G, governs the strength of gravity, the weakest yet most familiar force we experience in our everyday lives. Despite more than a quarter of a millennium of scientific inquiry and experimentation, our understanding of G remains frustratingly elusive. Recent measurements still differ by about 0.05%, showing no sign of convergence. In this talk, we will explore the fascinating history of attempts to pin down G, from early breakthroughs to the most sophisticated experiments of the past three decades. While these modern efforts have yet to deliver a definitive answer, they have produced innovative techniques that push the boundaries of precision measurement—methods that are as ingenious as they are instructive. Join me as we delve into the vexing journey of measuring G and uncover the scientific creativity behind this ongoing challenge.
Bio
Stephan Schlamminger received a diploma in physics from the University of Regensburg, Germany in 1998, and a Ph.D. degree in experimental physics from the University of Zurich, Switzerland in 2002. The topic of his thesis work was the determination of the gravitational constant. From 2002 to 2010 he worked at the University of Washington on an experimental test of the equivalence principle. In 2010, he moved to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where he is working on the watt balance. He became group leader of the fundamental electrical measurement group in 2016. From 2017 to 2018 he taught physics at the Regensburg University of Applied Science. Since the Fall of 2018, he is working as a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology on topics related to the realization of the unit of mass and impedance measurements.
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