# Manuel Rodrigues's research while affiliated with Université Paris-Saclay and other places

## Publications (53)

Preprint
Full-text available
The objective of the proposed MAQRO mission is to harness space for achieving long free-fall times, extreme vacuum, nano-gravity, and cryogenic temperatures to test the foundations of physics in macroscopic quantum experiments. This will result in the development of novel quantum sensors and a means to probe the foundations of quantum physics at th...
Preprint
Full-text available
Testing the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) to a precision of $10^{-15}$ requires a quantity of data that give enough confidence on the final result: ideally, the longer the measurement the better the rejection of thestatistical noise. The science sessions had a duration of 120 orbits maximum and were regularly repeated and spaced out to accommoda...
Article
Testing the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) to a precision of 10 ⁻¹⁵ requires a quantity of data that give enough confidence on the final result: ideally, the longer the measurement the better the rejection of the statistical noise. The science sessions had a duration of 120 orbits maximum and were regularly repeated and spaced out to accommodate...
Article
The MICROSCOPE mission aims to test the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) in orbit with an unprecendented precision of 10 ⁻¹⁵ on the Eövös parameter thanks to electrostatic accelerometers on board a drag-free microsatellite. The precision of the test is determined by statistical errors, due to the environment and instrument noises, and by systematic...
Preprint
Full-text available
The MICROSCOPE mission aims to test the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) in orbit with an unprecedented precision of 10$^{-15}$ on the E\"otv\"os parameter thanks to electrostatic accelerometers on board a drag-free micro-satellite. The precision of the test is determined by statistical errors, due to the environment and instrument noises, and by s...
Article
Full-text available
We speculate on the development and availability of new innovative propulsion techniques in the 2040s, that will allow us to fly a spacecraft outside the Solar System (at 150 AU and more) in a reasonable amount of time, in order to directly probe our (gravitational) Solar System neighborhood and answer pressing questions regarding the dark sector (...
Article
Full-text available
We present the scientific motivation for future space tests of the equivalence principle, and in particular the universality of free fall, at the 10^(-17) level or better. Two possible mission scenarios, one based on quantum technologies, the other on electrostatic accelerometers, that could reach that goal are briefly discussed. This publication i...
Article
MICROSCOPE is a space mission launched in 2016 that aims to test the validity of the Equivalence Principle (EP), the main postulate of General Relativity (GR), with a precision never reached before (TOUBOUL20011271). EP states that two bodies of different compositions and masses fall with the same acceleration in the same gravitational field. In or...
Article
This article is dedicated to the use the MICROSCOPE mission’s data to test chameleon theory of gravity. We take advantage of the technical sessions aimed to characterize the electrostatic stiffness of MICROSCOPE’s instrument intrinsic to its capacitive measurement system. Any discrepancy between the expected and measured stiffness may result from u...
Preprint
Full-text available
Since the MICROSCOPE instrument aims to measure accelerations as low as a few 10$^{-15}$\,m\,s$^{-2}$ and cannot operate on ground, it was obvious to have a large time dedicated to its characterization in flight. After its release and first operation, the characterization experiments covered all the aspects of the instrument design in order to cons...
Preprint
Full-text available
The MICROSCOPE experiment was designed to test the weak equivalence principle in space, by comparing the low-frequency dynamics of cylindrical "free-falling" test masses controlled by electrostatic forces. We use data taken during technical sessions aimed at estimating the electrostatic stiffness of MICROSCOPE's sensors to constrain a short-range Y...
Preprint
Full-text available
This article is dedicated to the use the MICROSCOPE mission's data to test chameleon theory of gravity. We take advantage of the technical sessions aimed to characterize the electrostatic stiffness of MICROSCOPE's instrument intrinsic to its capacitive measurement system. Any discrepancy between the expected and measured stiffness may result from u...
Preprint
Full-text available
Dedicated accelerometers have been developed for the MICROSCOPE mission taking into account the specific range of acceleration to be measured on board the satellite. Considering one micro-g and even less as the full range of the instrument, leads to a customized concept and a high performance electronics for the sensing and servo-actuations of the...
Preprint
Full-text available
After performing highly sensitive acceleration measurements during two years of drag-free flight around the Earth, MICROSCOPE provided the best constraint on the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) to date. Beside being a technological challenge, this experiment required a specialised data analysis pipeline to look for a potential small signal buried...
Preprint
Full-text available
This paper focus on the description of the design and performance of the MICROSCOPE satellite and its Drag-Free and Attitude Control System (DFACS). The satellite is derived from CNES' Myriade platform family, albeit with significant upgrades dictated by the unprecedented MICROSCOPE's mission requirements. The 300kg drag-free microsatellite has com...
Preprint
Full-text available
MICROSCOPE's space test of the weak equivalence principle (WEP) is based on the minute measurement of the difference of accelerations experienced by two test masses as they orbit the Earth. A detection of a violation of the WEP would appear at a well-known frequency $f_{\rm EP}$ depending on the satellite's orbital and spinning frequencies. Consequ...
Preprint
Full-text available
The MICROSCOPE mission aimed to test the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) to a precision of $10^{-15}$. The WEP states that two bodies fall at the same rate on a gravitational field independently of their mass or composition. In MICROSCOPE, two masses of different compositions (titanium and platinum alloys) are placed on a quasi-circular trajectory...
Preprint
We use data from the T-SAGE instrument on board the MICROSCOPE space mission to search for Lorentz violation in matter-gravity couplings as described by the Lorentz violating Standard-Model Extension (SME) coefficients $(\bar{a}_\text{eff})_\mu^w$, where ($\mu = T,X,Y,Z$) and ($w = e,p,n$) for the electron, proton and neutron. One of the phenomenol...
Article
We use data from the T-SAGE instrument on board the MICROSCOPE space mission to search for Lorentz violation in matter-gravity couplings as described by the Lorentz violating standard model extension (SME) coefficients (a¯eff)μw, where (μ=T, X, Y, Z) and (w=e, p, n) for the electron, proton, and neutron. One of the phenomenological consequences of...
Article
Full-text available
The weak equivalence principle (WEP), stating that two bodies of different compositions and/or mass fall at the same rate in a gravitational field (universality of free fall), is at the very foundation of general relativity. The MICROSCOPE mission aims to test its validity to a precision of 10⁻¹⁵, two orders of magnitude better than current on-grou...
Preprint
The Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP), stating that two bodies of different compositions and/or mass fall at the same rate in a gravitational field (universality of free fall), is at the very foundation of General Relativity. The MICROSCOPE mission aims to test its validity to a precision of $10^{-15}$, two orders of magnitude better than current on...
Article
We speculate on the development and availability of new innovative propulsion techniques in the 2040s, that will allow us to fly a spacecraft outside the Solar System (at 150 AU and more) in a reasonable amount of time, in order to directly probe our (gravitational) Solar System neighborhood and answer pressing questions regarding the dark sector (...
Preprint
We speculate on the development and availability of new innovative propulsion techniques in the 2040s, that will allow us to fly a spacecraft outside the Solar System (at 150 AU and more) in a reasonable amount of time, in order to directly probe our (gravitational) Solar System neighborhood and answer pressing questions regarding the dark sector (...
Preprint
Full-text available
We present the scientific motivation for future space tests of the equivalence principle, and in particular the universality of free fall, at the $10^{-17}$ level or better. Two possible mission scenarios, one based on quantum technologies, the other on electrostatic accelerometers, that could reach that goal are briefly discussed.
Article
The MICROSCOPE experiment has set the best upper bound to date on the weak equivalence principle, proving Einstein's postulate with an unprecedented precision, as explained by Principal Investigator Pierre Touboul and team members Manuel Rodrigues and Joel Bergé.
Article
According to the weak equivalence principle, all bodies should fall at the same rate in a gravitational field. The MICROSCOPE satellite, launched in April 2016, aims to test its validity at the 10−15 precision level, by measuring the force required to maintain two test masses (of titanium and platinum alloys) exactly in the same orbit. A nonvanishi...
Article
Full-text available
MICROSCOPE is a French Space Agency mission that aims to test the Weak Equivalence Principle in space down to an accuracy of 10⁻¹⁵, two orders of magnitude better than the current constraints. The MICROSCOPE satellite was launched on April 25, 2016. We describe the MICROSCOPE mission, its measurement principle and instrument, and report on the stat...
Article
We present a Gaussian regression method for time series with missing data and stationary residuals of unknown power spectral density (PSD). The missing data are efficiently estimated by their conditional expectation as in universal Kriging based on the circulant approximation of the complete data covariance. After initialization with an autoregress...
Article
Full-text available
Do the laws of quantum physics still hold for macroscopic objects - this is at the heart of Schrödinger’s cat paradox - or do gravitation or yet unknown effects set a limit for massive particles? What is the fundamental relation between quantum physics and gravity? Ground-based experiments addressing these questions may soon face limitations due to...
Article
Full-text available
The analysis of physical measurements often copes with highly correlated noises and interruptions caused by outliers, saturation events or transmission losses. We assess the impact of missing data on the performance of linear regression analysis involving the fit of modeled or measured time series. We show that data gaps can significantly alter the...
Article
Full-text available
MICROSCOPE is a French Space Agency mission that aims to test the Weak Equivalence Principle in space down to an accuracy of $10^{-15}$. This is two orders of magnitude better than the current constraints, which will allow us to test General Relativity as well as theories beyond General Relativity which predict a possible Weak Equivalence Principle...
Article
The MICROSCOPE space mission aims at testing the Equivalence Principle (EP) with an accuracy of 10−15. The test is based on the precise measurement delivered by a differential electrostatic accelerometer on-board a drag-free microsatellite which includes two cylindrical test masses submitted to the same gravitational field and made of different mat...
Article
The MICROSCOPE space mission aims to test the Equivalence Principle with an accuracy of 10-15. The drag-free micro-satellite will orbit around the Earth and embark a differential electrostatic accelerometer including two cylindrical test masses submitted to the same gravitational field and made of different materials. The experience consists in tes...
Article
The MICROSCOPE space mission is to test in 2016 the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) with an accuracy of 10−15. This fundamental physics mission should provide answers to the basic question of the universality of free-falling bodies in a uniform gravity field. During 18 months, the mission should improve the current ground experiments by at least t...
Article
Accelerometers for space applications - like the electrostatic differential accelrometer for the MICROSCOPE mission for testing the equivalence principle in space - have to be tested and qualified in μg-conditions in order to demonstrate the system operation and to determine the characteristic sensor parameters. One important characteristic propert...
Article
The MICROSCOPE mission, to be launched in 2011, will perform the test of the universality of free fall (Equivalence Principle) to an accuracy of 10−15. The payload consists of two sensors, each controlling the free fall of a pair of test masses: the first for the test of the Equivalence Principle (titanium/platinum), the second for performance veri...
Article
The payload of the MICROSCOPE space mission embarks two pairs of test-masses, made of Platinum Rhodium alloy and Titanium alloy, that are used to perform the test of the Uni-versality of free fall, i.e. of the Equivalence Principle (EP). These cylindrical test-masses are at the core of the inertial sensors used to perform the full drag-free and att...
Article
In order to investigate the foundation of gravity laws, the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EP), the space MICROSCOPE experiment envisage to follow with pico-meter accuracy the in orbit motion of test masses and to influence their motions with very weak forces in view of common gravity trajectory. To that aim, well suited capacitive position sensin...
Article
MICROSCOPE is a space mission, scheduled for a launch in 2010, which aims to verify the equivalence principle (EP) with an accuracy of 10-15, over a hundred times better than what has been realized on Earth today. The EP test is based on the measurement of the electrostatic forces to be applied on each test mass of two concentric inertial sensors,...
Article
The space mission MICROSCOPE aims to test the Equivalence Principle with a high precision not achieved yet. The instrument is a deferential electrostatic accelercmeter, at the heart of a microsatellite in free fail. Some physical parameters of this instrument cannot be measured with enough precisian on ground. Once these parameters determined, proc...
Article
The challenging drag-free sensor of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission is derived from electrostatic accelerometers developed for a long time in ONERA. The LISA sensor includes a gold platinum alloy inertial mass free-floating in space and used as reflectors for the laser interferometer. This test mass should not undergo more tha...
Article
Ultrasensitive accelerometers with electrostatic suspension use a technology allowing operation at ambient temperature. However, their resolution is theoretically limited to around 10<sup>-12</sup>  m s <sup> -2 </sup> /Hz <sup>1/2</sup> by thermal noise. To overcome this limit, and in the perspective of future space missions, an electrostatic sens...
Article
The test of the equivalence principle can be performed in space with orders of magnitude better resolution than in the laboratory, because of the outstanding steady and soft environment of the in-orbit experiment. The expected new experimental results will contribute to the unification of the four interactions, demonstrate the existence of extra sc...
Article
Several space missions have been proposed in the present years for the observation of the gravity waves by exploiting laser interferometry between three or six satellites. The laser links between the satellites constitute the arms of the interferometer of a few million kilometers long. Beside the difficulties of the interferometer exhibiting picome...
Article
The MICROSCOPE mission aims to test the equivalence principle (EP) up to an accuracy of 10-15 using its well known manifestation: the universality of free-fall. The mission, implemented in the Cnes programme of 2000, schedules the launch of the microsatellite for 2004. The satellite payload comprises four gravitational sensors operating at finely s...
Article
The interferometer of the LISA mission is realized with V-formations of drag-free spacecraft in heliocentric orbit. Each spacecraft will have at its centre a cubic proof mass made in gold - platinum alloy, that defines one end of the interferometer arms. These masses are also those of the inertial reference sensors used for the drag compensation co...

## Citations

... The EP limits come from torsion balance experiments described in Section V E [451,452,673] and the MICROSCOPE satellite [30,42,454]. MICROSCOPE aims to tests the EP in orbit to an ultimate precision of 10 −15 using electrostatic accelerometers on board a drag-free microsatellite [674], with current results based on a fraction of their data [42,454]. Torsion balance experiments that are up to a factor of 10 more sensitive are in preparation at the University of Washington. ...
... Another key consideration for optomechanical systems is the relatively large size of the optomechanical probe. This has been found to be significant in previous classical experiments with chameleon fields, such as the MICROSCOPE experiment [77,78], and we find that it also contributes significantly to the chameleon screening of the fifth force in the envisioned setup of the quantum experiment we consider here (as opposed to, for example, cold atoms, where the screening length of the atomic probes is very small). To take the finite screening length into account, we go beyond the common approximation that the probe radius is small compared to the range of the chameleon field and derive analytic expressions for the modified force seen by the probe. ...
... Another satellite proposal, STE-QUEST [130], would use ultracold atoms in quantum superposition states to test the equivalence principle with a sensitivity about three orders of magnitude beyond the best existing result obtained by the MICROSCOPE space mission in 2017 [131]. Additional science goals are searches for different types of dark matter and tests of the foundations of quantum mechanics. ...
... However, the most stringent upper bound on the violations of the WEP to date comes from space, where one can exploit the possibility to compare the gravitational acceleration of two free falling test-bodies in orbit around the Earth for a very long time. The space mission MICROSCOPE [41,42] of the French space agency CNES, managed in two years of operation to push this upper bound to η ≤ 1.3 × 10 −14 . This bound results from the use of Titanium-Platinum test-bodies, a reference pair of Platinum-Rhodium alloy masses, and the use of data recorded in 120 orbits with free-falling times of up to 8 days. ...
... Indeed, the phenomenology of a running Planck mass has been considered in [53,54], and also in scalar-tensor type models such as Einstein-Aether, where it was found that the amplitude of the matter power spectrum is reduced, as compared to the CMB power spectrum; moreover, since the Planck mass influence the amplitude of gravitational waves, the cosmological distance measures will be affected, as measured through gravitational-wave detections [54]. Since a varying Planck mass implies a varying Newton's constant, this will affect the Equivalence Principle, from which there are stringent constraints on spacetime-symmetry breaking [55], most notably from the MICROSCOPE mission which has produced constraints on symmetrybreaking coefficients on the order of 10 −14 [56]. ...
... where to measure directly deviations from the inverse square law of gravity in the solar system out to 100 astronomical units (AU) and beyond [33][34][35][36]. In any case, modifications are expected due to the presence of dark matter [37]. ...
... UGR states that the proper-time difference between different heights in gravity passes in a composition-independent manner, and is usually tested 6,7,8,9,10,11 by atomic clocks 12,13,14 . On the other hand, UFF tests analyze whether gravitational accelerations of two test bodies are equal, and can be implemented via classical 15 or quantum test bodies, where the latter can for example be implemented with atom interferometers 16,17 . Consequently, the question 18,19,20,21,22 whether UGR tests with atom interferomters are possible arises. ...
... The Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) states that two bodies with different compositions and masses fall at the same rate in a gravitational field. Recently, results of data analysis from the MICROSCOPE space mission were reported and it was shown that there was no violation of WEP at the level around 10 −15 for titanium and platinum pair of materials [33,34]. Since we used the Reissner-Nordström metric with a tidal charge and this model looks very similar to the conventional Reissner-Nordström metric with an electric charge in general relativity we expect that it should be no violation of WEP since from the beginning we suppose that test bodies move along geodesics independently on their masses and chemical compositions assuming that their masses and sizes are small enough. ...
... The estimated sensitivities of clocks within the QSNET network to apparent oscillations of the fundamental constants are shown by the green lines. Also shown are existing limits from previous searches for oscillations of the fundamental constants via clock comparisons (blue region) [21,128,129], clock-cavity comparisons (red regions) [132], optical interferometry (yellow regions) [133] and a resonant-mass detector (narrow orange regions) [134], as well as complementary bounds from searches for equivalence-principle-violating forces (grey regions) [135][136][137][138]. See the main text for more details discussed in Sect. ...
... MICROSCOPE was launched into a low-Earth sun-synchronous orbit from Kourou on April 25, 2016 at an altitude of 710 km. The science experiment started in December 2016 after a successful commissioning phase [46,47]. Since then, MICROSCOPE has delivered high-quality data. ...