The Rise and Fall of the Fifth Force

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This book offers a captivating account of how physicists first proposed a new force of nature beyond the four established forces—electromagnetic, weak, strong, and gravitational—based on a reanalysis of existing experimental data. In 1986, Ephraim Fischbach, Sam Aronson, Carrick Talmadge, and their collaborators suggested a modification to Newton’s Law of universal gravitation, driven by three intriguing pieces of evidence: an energy dependence of CP parameters, discrepancies in measurements of the universal gravitational constant (G) between laboratories and mineshafts, and a reanalysis of the Eötvos experiment, which indicated that the gravitational mass and inertial mass of objects were not as equal as previously thought. This led to the Fifth Force hypothesis, which proposed a composition and small distance dependence in gravitational force. Over the next four years, numerous experiments aimed to test this hypothesis, but by 1990, compelling evidence indicated that the Fifth Force did not exist. The book explores the journey of the Fifth Force hypothesis, highlighting its significance in modern physics before its eventual rejection. This expanded edition includes two essays: one featuring Fischbach’s personal reflections on the proposal and another detailing the ongoing history and impact of the Fifth Force hypothesis from 1990 to the present.