Abstract
A nanonewton force facility, based on a disk-pendulum with electrostatic stiffness reduction and electrostatic force compensation, for the measurement of horizontal forces in the range below 1 µN, is presented. It consists of a measuring system and an identical reference system. Recent experiments with the nanonewton force facility have achieved agreement between an electrostatic force and a gravitational force of 80 nN with an uncertainty of less than 3%. A novel method for measurements of the air (vacuum) permittivity at zero frequencies by means of the nanonewton force facility is presented. First measurements in air show a permittivity of the air ε ≈ 8.71 × 10−12 F m−1 with an uncertainty of 3%. From a theoretical analysis, it follows that this method can be used for the measurement of the vacuum permittivity ε0 at zero frequencies with a relative uncertainty of about 10−5. The precise measurement of the vacuum permittivity ε0 for an electrostatic field would be another test for the correctness of Maxwell's equations.
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