Constraining the mass of the graviton with the planetary ephemeris INPOP (1901.04307v2)

Abstract: We use the planetary ephemeris INPOP17b to constrain the mass of the graviton in the Newtonian limit. We also give an interpretation of this result for a specific case of fifth force framework. We find that the residuals for the Cassini spacecraft significantly (90\% C.L.) degrade for Compton wavelengths of the graviton smaller than $1.83\times 10^{13}$ km, corresponding to a graviton mass bigger than $6.76\times 10^{-23} eV/c^2$. This limit is comparable in magnitude to the one obtained by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration in the radiative regime. We also use this specific example to illustrate why constraints on alternative theories of gravity obtained from postfit residuals are generically overestimated.