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With the decline of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics and the recent experiments indicating that quantum mechanics does actually embody 'objective reality', one might ask if a 'mechanical', conceptual model for quantum…
It is conjectured that the spatial structure of quantum field states is influenced by a new kind of directional indeterminacy of quantum geometry set by the Planck length, $l_P$, that does not occur in a classical background geometry.…
A model for observable effects of electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations is presented. The model involves a probe pulse which traverses a slab of nonlinear optical material with a nonzero second order polarizability. We argue that the pulse…
We adopt a framework where quantum-gravity's dynamical dimensional reduction of spacetime at short distances is described in terms of modified dispersion relations. We observe that by subjecting such models to a momentum-space…
Recent discussions suggest the possibility that short distance physics can significantly modify the behavior of quantum fluctuations in the inflationary universe, and alter the standard large scale structure predictions. Such modifications…
The microscopic processes underlying electro-optic sampling of quantum-vacuum fluctuations are discussed, leading to the interpretation of these experiments in terms of an exchange of virtual photons. With this in mind it is shown how one…
Temporal broadening of pulsar signals results from electron density fluctuations in the interstellar medium that cause the radiation to travel along paths of different lengths. The Gaussian theory of fluctuations predicts that the pulse…
A non-perturbative study on the quantum fluctuations of light ray propagation through a quantum region of spacetime is long overdue. Within the theory of Lorentzian simplicial quantum gravity, we compute the probabilities for a test light…
We study the implications of quantum fluctuations of a dispersive medium, under steady rotation, either in or out of thermal equilibrium with its environment. A rotating object exhibits a quantum instability by dissipating its mechanical…
Quantum reference frames are expected to differ from classical reference frames because they have to implement typical quantum features such as fluctuations and correlations. Here, we show that fluctuations and correlations of reference…
When a luminous source is extended, its distortions by weak gravitational lensing are richer than a mere combination of magnification and shear. In a recent work, we proposed an elegant formalism based on complex analysis to describe and…
In spite of the macroscopic character of the fluctuation amplitudes, we show that the standard inflationary distribution of primordial density fluctuations still exhibits inherently quantum mechanical correlations (which cannot be mimicked…
Gravitational waves perturb the paths of photons, impacting both the time-of-flight and the arrival direction of light from stars. Pulsar timing arrays can detect gravitational waves by measuring the variations in the time of flight of…
We investigate the dominant physical effects of superhorizon fluctuations in a flat FLRW universe, focusing on whether the combined evolution of scalar and tensor adiabatic modes in the near-horizon regime could lead to geometries beyond…
We consider a new set of effects arising from the quantum gravity corrections to the propagation of fields, associated with fluctuations of the spacetime geometry. Using already existing experimental data, we can put bounds on these effects…
In recent years, gravitational lensing has been used as a means to detect substructure in galaxy-sized halos, via anomalous flux ratios in quadruply-imaged lenses. In addition to causing anomalous flux ratios, substructure may also perturb…
Image distortion due to weak gravitational lensing is examined using a non-perturbative method of integrating the geodesic deviation and optical scalar equations along the null geodesics connecting the observer to a distant source. The…
That light propagating in a gravitational field gets frequency-shifted is one of the basic consequences of any metric theory of gravity rooted in the equivalence principle. At the same time, also a time dependent material's refractive index…
Considering the existence of nonconformal stochastic fluctuations in the metric tensor a generalized uncertainty principle and a deformed dispersion relation (associated to the propagation of photons) are deduced. Matching our model with…
We propose a thought experiment to detect low-energy Quantum Gravity phenomena using Quantum Optical Information Technologies. Gravitational field perturbations, such as gravitational waves and quantum gravity fluctuations, decohere the…