| Issue |
EPL
Volume 115, Number 2, July 2016
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 20006 | |
| Number of page(s) | 4 | |
| Section | General | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/115/20006 | |
| Published online | 17 August 2016 | |
Frequentist model comparison tests of sinusoidal variations in measurements of Newton's gravitational constant
Department of Physics, IIT Hyderabad - Kandi, Telangana-502285, India
Received: 28 June 2016
Accepted: 28 July 2016
In 2015, Anderson et al. (EPL, 110 (2015) 10002) have claimed to find evidence for periodic sinusoidal variations (period = 5.9 years) in measurements of Newton's gravitational constant. These claims have been disputed by Pitkin (EPL, 111 (2015) 30002). Using the Bayesian model comparison, he argues that a model with an unknown Gaussian noise component is favored over any periodic variations by more than e30. We re-examine the claims of Anderson et al. using frequentist model comparison tests, both with and without errors in the measurement times. Our findings lend support to Pitkin's claim that a constant term along with an unknown systematic offset provides a better fit to the measurements of Newton's constant, compared to any sinusoidal variations.
PACS: 06.20.Jr – Determination of fundamental constants / 04.80.-y – Experimental studies of gravity / 06.30.Gv – Velocity, acceleration, and rotation
© EPLA, 2016
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.