Constraints on non-Newtonian gravity and axionlike particles from measuring the Casimir force in nanometer separation range

Abstract

© 2020 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. We obtain constraints on the Yukawa-type corrections to Newton's gravitational law and on the coupling constant of axionlike particles to nucleons following from the experiment on measuring the Casimir force between a Au-coated microsphere and a silicon carbide plate. For this purpose, both the Yukawa-type force and the force due to two-axion exchange between nucleons are calculated in the experimental configuration. In the interaction range of Yukawa force exceeding 1 nm and for axion masses above 17.8 eV, the obtained constraints are much stronger than those found previously from measuring the lateral Casimir force between sinusoidally corrugated surfaces. These results are compared with the results of other laboratory experiments on constraining non-Newtonian gravity and axionlike particles in the relevant interaction ranges.