Related papers: Quantum Mechanics and Gravitation
Recently, quantum states of ultra-cold neutrons in the Earth's gravitational field have been observed for the first time. From the fact that they are consistent with Newtonian gravity on the 10 %-level, analytical limits on alpha and lambda…
In the UCN{\tau} experiment, ultracold neutrons (UCN) are confined by magnetic fields and the Earth's gravitational field. Field-trapping mitigates the problem of UCN loss on material surfaces, which caused the largest correction in prior…
Two of us (CM and VV) recently showed how the quantum character of a physical system, in particular the gravitational field, can in principle be witnessed without directly measuring observables of that system, solely by its ability to…
The dynamics of a particle in a gravitational quantum well is studied in the context of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics with a particular deformation of a two-dimensional Heisenberg algebra. This deformation yields a new short-distance…
We describe an experimental installation for a new test of the weak equivalence principle for neutron. The device is a sensitive gravitational spectrometer for ultra-cold neutrons allowing to precisely compare the gain in kinetic energy of…
An upper limit to non-Newtonian attracive forces is obtained from the measurement of quantum states of neutrons in the Earth's gravitational field. This limit improves the existing constrains in the nanometer range.
It is shown that screening the background of super-strong interacting gravitons ensures the Newtonian attraction, if a part of single gravitons is pairing and graviton pairs are destructed by collisions with a body. If the considered…
A classical dynamical system in a four-dimensional Euclidean space with universal time is considered. The space is hypothesized to be originally occupied by a uniform substance, pictured as a liquid, which at some time became supercooled.…
Modern, state of the art nanomechanical devices are capable of creating spatial superpositions that are massive enough to begin to experimentally access the quantum to classical crossover, and thus force us to consider the possible ways in…
In this letter, we calculate the probability for resonantly induced transitions in quantum states due to time dependent gravitational perturbations. Contrary to common wisdom, the probability of inducing transitions is not infinitesimally…
Among the known particles, the neutron takes a special position, as it provides experimental access to all four fundamental forces and a wide range of hypothetical interactions. Despite being unstable, free neutrons live long enough to be…
While a wide variety of astrophysical and cosmological phenomena suggest the presence of Dark Matter, all evidence remains via its gravitational effect on the known matter. As such, it is conceivable that this evidence could be explained by…
All existing quantum gravity proposals share the same deep problem. Their predictions are extremely hard to test in practice. Quantum effects in the gravitational field are exceptionally small, unlike those in the electromagnetic field. The…
The interferometry-based experimental tests of quantum properties of space-time which the author sketched out in a recent short Letter [Nature 398 (1999) 216] are here discussed in self-contained fashion. Besides providing detailed…
Quantum gravity is known to be mostly a kind of metaphysical speculation. In this brief essay, we try to argue that, although still extremely difficult to reach, observational signatures can in fact be expected. The early universe is an…
An open question in experimental physics is the characterization of gravitational effects in quantum regimes. We propose an experimental set-up that uses well-tested techniques in cavity optomechanics to observe the effects of the…
Aim of this work is to calculate explicitly the result of the experiment of superposition of a mirror in the Michelson photon cavities interferometric device proposed by Marshall, Simon, Penrose and Bownmeester, as expected within a…
The extreme smallness of both the Planck length, on the one side, and the ratio of the gravitational to the electrical forces between, say, two electrons, on the other side has led to a widespread belief that the realm of quantum gravity is…
The gravitational interaction is generally considered to be too weak to be easily submitted to systematic experimental investigation in the quantum, microscopic, domain. In this paper we attempt to remedy this situation by considering the…
Observation time is the key parameter for improving the precision of measurements of gravitational quantum states of particles levitating above a reflecting surface. We propose a new method of long confinement in such states of atoms,…