Limits on Nonstandard Forces in the Submicrometer Range

Abstract

We report the search for a nonstandard force by measuring the Casimir forces in the 0.48--6.5 $\mu$m range. By comparing the data and the theory of the Casimir force, we have obtained constraints for the parameter $\alpha$ of the Yukawa-type deviations from Newtonian gravity. The obtained limits are more stringent than previous limits in the 1.0--2.9 $\mu$m range. Furthermore, we have obtained lower limits for the fundamental scale $M_{*}$ for gauged baryon number in the bulk. In particular, for six extra dimensions, the limits on $M_{*}$ are stringent in the range $6.5\times10^{-6}<\rho<2.5\times10^{-4}$.