Related papers: Testing the equivalence principle through freely f…
This work is divided into two parts. The first examines recent proposals for "witnessing" quantum gravity via entanglement from the point of view of Bronstein's original objection to a quantization of gravity. Using techniques from open…
The search for a theory of quantum gravity is the most fundamental problem in all of theoretical physics, but there are as yet no experimental results at all to guide this endeavor. What seems to be needed is a pragmatic way to test if…
To date, both quantum theory, and Einstein's theory of general relativity have passed every experimental test in their respective regimes. Nevertheless, almost since their inception, there has been debate surrounding whether they should be…
There have been various claims that the Equivalence Principle, as originally formulated by Einstein, presents several difficulties when extended to the quantum domain, even in the regime of weak gravity. Here we point out that by following…
Several examples are known where quantum gravity effects resolve the classical big bang singularity by a bounce. The most detailed analysis has probably occurred for loop quantum cosmology of isotropic models sourced by a free, massless…
That gravitation can be understood as purely metric phenomenon depends crucially on the validity of a number of hypotheses which are summarised by the Einstein Equivalence Principle, the least well tested part of which being the…
The gedanken-experiment of Einstein's lift is analyzed in order of determining whether the free-falling observer inside the lift can detect the eventual topological non-triviality of space-time
We address the question whether quantum probes in a gravitational field can be considered as test particles obeying the weak equivalence principle (WEP). A formulation of the WEP is proposed which applies also in the quantum regime, while…
We consider possible tests of the Einstein Equivalence Principle for quantum-mechanical vacuum energies by evaluating the Lamb shift transition in a class of non-metric theories of gravity described by the \tmu formalism. We compute to…
Equivalence principles played a central role in the development of general relativity. Furthermore, they have provided operative procedures for testing the validity of general relativity, or constraining competing theories of gravitation.…
It is argued that (a) In the quantum realm test-particle masses have non-trivial observability which induces a non-geometric element in gravity, (b) Any theory of quantum gravity, on fundamental grounds, must contain an element of…
We propose a new interpretation of the equivalence principle underlying Einstein's general relativity: a free-falling frame with gravitational force eliminated locally in a small spacetime region shows the existence of a boundary level,…
A thought experiment is considered on observation of instantaneous collapse of an extended wave packet. According to relativity of simultaneity, such a collapse being instantaneous in some reference frame must be a lasting process in other…
Higher-dimensional theories of the kind which may unify gravitation with particle physics can lead to significant modifications of general relativity. In five dimensions, the vacuum becomes non-standard, and the Weak Equivalence Principle…
Experiments have recently been proposed testing whether quantum gravitational interactions generate entanglement between adjacent masses in position superposition states. We propose potentially less challenging experiments that test quantum…
Gravitation, according to General Relativity, is an attribute of space-time's geometry and hence not a force in the Newtonian sense. This is a consequence of Einstein's equivalence principle, which so far passed all experimental tests with…
We briefly review the various contexts within which one might address the issue of ``why'' the dimensionless constants of Nature have the particular values that they are observed to have. Both the general historical trend, in physics, of…
When a light scalar field with gravitational strength interacts with matter, the weak equivalence principle is in general violated, leading for instance to a violation of the universality of free fall. This has been known and tested for a…
The universality of free fall is one of the most cherished principles in classical gravity. Its fate in the quantum world is one of the key questions in fundamental physics. We investigate the universality of free fall in the context of…
The relationship between uniformly accelerated reference frames in flat spacetime and the uniform gravitational field is examined in a relativistic context. It is shown that, contrary to previous statements in the pages of this journal,…