Charge effects on gravitational wave detectors

We show that the mean-square displacement of a charged oscillator due to th e zero point oscillations of the radiation field is unique in the sense tha t it is very sensitive to the value of the bare mass of the charge. Thus, a controlled experiment using gravitational wave detectors could lead to a d etermination of the electron bare mass and shed some light on quantum elect rodynamic theory. We also speculate that the irregular signals of non-gravi tational origin often observed in gravitational wave bar detectors could be caused by stray charges and that such charges could also adversely affect LIGO and other such detectors. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights re served.