Probing quantum gravity effects with quantum mechanical oscillators
Year: 2020
Authors: Bonaldi M., Borrielli A., Chowdhury A., Di Giuseppe G., Li W., Malossi N., Marino F., Morana B., Natali R., Piergentili P., Prodi G. A., Sarro P. M., Serra E., Vezio P., Vitali D., Marin F.
Autors Affiliation: Inst Mat Elect & Magnetism, Nanosci Trento FBK Div, I-38123 Povo, Trento, Italy; Ist Nazl Fis Nucl INFN, Trento Inst Fundamental Phys & Applicat, I-38123 Povo, Trento, Italy; CNR INO, Lgo E Fermi 6, I-50125 Florence, Italy; INFN, Sez Firenze, Via Sansone 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy; Univ Camerino, Div Phys, Sch Sci & Technol, Via Madonna Carceri 9, I-62032 Camerino, MC, Italy; INFN, Sez Perugia, Via A Pascoli, I-06123 Perugia, Italy; Delft Univ Technol, Lab Elect Components Technol & Mat ECTM, Dept Microelect, Feldmanweg 17, NL-2628 CT Delft, Netherlands; Univ Trento, Dipartimento Fis, I-38123 Povo, Trento, Italy; European Lab Nonlinear Spect LENS, Via N Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy; Univ Firenze, Dipartimento Fis & Astron, Via G Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy.
Abstract: Phenomenological models aiming to join gravity and quantum mechanics often predict effects that are potentially measurable in refined low-energy experiments. For instance, modified commutation relations between position and momentum, that account for a minimal scale length, yield a dynamics that can be codified in additional Hamiltonian terms. When applied to the paradigmatic case of a mechanical oscillator, such terms, at the lowest order in the deformation parameter, introduce a weak intrinsic nonlinearity and, consequently, deviations from the classical trajectory. This point of view has stimulated several experimental proposals and realizations, leading to meaningful upper limits to the deformation parameter. All such experiments are based on classical mechanical oscillators, i.e., excited from a thermal state. We remark indeed that decoherence, that plays a major role in distinguishing the classical from the quantum behavior of (macroscopic) systems, is not usually included in phenomenological quantum gravity models. However, it would not be surprising if peculiar features that are predicted by considering the joined roles of gravity and quantum physics should manifest themselves just on purely quantum objects. On the basis of this consideration, we propose experiments aiming to observe possible quantum gravity effects on macroscopic mechanical oscillators that are preliminary prepared in a high purity state, and we report on the status of their realization.
Journal/Review: EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL D
Volume: 74 (9) Pages from: 178-1 to: 178-9
More Information: Open access funding provided by Universita degli Studi di Firenze within the CRUI-CARE Agreement.KeyWords: Generalized Uncertainty Principle; Planck-scale PhysicsDOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2020-10184-6ImpactFactor: 1.425Citations: 10data from “WEB OF SCIENCE” (of Thomson Reuters) are update at: 2024-11-24References taken from IsiWeb of Knowledge: (subscribers only)Connecting to view paper tab on IsiWeb: Click hereConnecting to view citations from IsiWeb: Click here
