Volpe, GiovanniHelden, L.Brettschneider, T.Wehr, J.Bechinger, C.2020-04-072020-04-072010-040031-9007http://hdl.handle.net/11693/53559We demonstrate how the ineluctable presence of thermal noise alters the measurement of forces acting on microscopic and nanoscopic objects. We quantify this effect exemplarily for a Brownian particle near a wall subjected to gravitational and electrostatic forces. Our results demonstrate that the forcemeasurement process is prone to artifacts if the noise is not correctly taken into account.EnglishArticle10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.1706021079-7114