The existence of minimal length scale has motivated the proposal of generalized uncertainty principle, which provides a potential routine to probe quantum gravitational effects in low-energy quantum mechanics experiment. Hitherto, the tabletop experiment of testing deviations from ordinary quantum mechanics are mostly based on microscopic objects. However, the feasibility of these studies are challenged by the recent study of spacetime quantization for composite macroscopic body. In this paper, we propose a scheme to probe quantum gravity effects by revealing the deviations from predictions of Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Our scheme focus on manipulating the interaction sequences between external laser fields and a single trapped ion to seek evidence of spacetime quantization, therefore reduce the complicity induced by large bodies to some extent. The relevant study for microscopic particles is crucial considering the lack of satisfactory theories regarding basic properties for multi-particles in the framework of quantum gravity. Meanwhile, we are managed to set a new upper limit for deformation parameter.
The existence of minimal length scale has motivated the proposal of generalized uncertainty principle, which provides a potential routine to probe quantum gravitational effects in low-energy quantum mechanics experiment. Hitherto, the tabletop experiment of testing deviations from ordinary quantum mechanics are mostly based on microscopic objects. However, the feasibility of these studies are challenged by the recent study of spacetime quantization for composite macroscopic body. In this paper, we propose a scheme to probe quantum gravity effects by revealing the deviations from predictions of Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Our scheme focus on manipulating the interaction sequences between external laser fields and a single trapped ion to seek evidence of spacetime quantization, therefore reduce the complicity induced by large bodies to some extent. The relevant study for microscopic particles is crucial considering the lack of satisfactory theories regarding basic properties for multi-particles in the framework of quantum gravity. Meanwhile, we are managed to set a new upper limit for deformation parameter.
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. Graphical abstract
Several theories of quantum gravity propose the existence of a minimal measurable length and maximum measurable momentum near the Planck scale. When integrated into the framework of quantum mechanics, such restrictions lead to the generalization of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which is commonly referred to as the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP). The GUP has been applied to a plethora of physical models in order to provide further insights on our understanding of the Universe, both in the macroscopic and the microscopic regime. Nevertheless, the corrections related to GUP are expected to be extremely small, which thus renders experimental verification a difficult task. Therefore, phenomenological approaches on a qualitative level are typically addressed with the aim of enhancing our possibility of detecting these tiny effects. Motivated by a recent work on a universal decoherence mechanism stemming from the standard formulation of GUP, we extend the ideas contained therein by considering a more general form of GUP which includes linear and quadratic momentum terms to examine its implications. To achieve such a picture, we equip the deformation parameter appearing in front of all momentum terms with a stochastic nature, so that the effective decoherence mechanism emerges by taking the average over fluctuations. We find that, despite the apparently small differences among the two generalizations of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, the consequences at the level of the universal decoherence mechanism they entail is significant, as they predict decoherence times that are completely uncorrelated and distinct.
Probing Planck-scale spacetime by cavity opto-atomic 87Rb interferometry
The project of quantum spacetime phenomenology focuses on searching pragmatically for the Planck-scale quantum features of spacetime. Among these features is the existence of a characteristic length scale commonly addressed by effective approaches to quantum gravity (QG). This characteristic length scale could be simply realized, for instance, by generalizing the standard Heisenberg uncertainty principle to a generalized uncertainty principle (GUP). While it is usually expected that phenomena belonging to the realm of QG are essentially probable solely at the so-called Planck energy, here we show how a GUP proposal containing the most general modification of coordinate representation of the momentum operator could be probed by a cold atomic ensemble recoil experiment (CARE) as a low-energy quantum system. This proposed atomic interferometer setup has advantages over the conventional architectures owing to the enclosure in a high-finesse optical cavity that is supported by a new class of low-power-consumption integrated devices known as micro-electro-opto-mechanical systems. In the framework of a top-down-inspired bottom-up QG phenomenological viewpoint and by taking into account the measurement accuracy realized for the fine structure constant from the rubidium (|87|Rb) CARE, we set some constraints as upper bounds on the characteristic parameters of the underlying GUP. In the case of superposition of the possible GUP modification terms, we managed to set a tight constraint of |0.999978<λ0<1.00002| for the dimensionless characteristic parameter. Our study shows that the best playground to test QG approaches is not merely high-energy physics, but a table-top nanosystem assembly as well. PACS numbers: 04.60.-m, 04.60.Bc
in ordinary quantum mechanics for the position uncertainty since the minimum value for the uncertainty can be tend to zero. Different theories of quantum gravity, such as string theory, loop quantum gravity, and black hole physics, confirm a minimal observable length. Kempf et al have formulated The minimal length is a fundamental length for position measurement, although there is no lower bound a generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) by modifying the Heisenberg uncertainty principle to include an appearance of the length in quantum mechanics. In this study, we have found out the influence of the GUP on the particle for its confinement in a 1D potential box and calculated energy eigenvalues. The modified Schrödinger equation for the particle is factorized to be of second order to obtain the eigenvalues in a handy way. The obtained energy levels are modified from the usual result with GUP parameter dependency. The modification in the energy spectrum due to the GUP characterized by the presence of the minimal length has been also explored graphically.
Testing whether gravity is quantum or classical remains a cornerstone challenge in fundamental physics. We introduce a practical tabletop experiment to probe gravity's quantum nature via the gravitational Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect in atom interferometry. Our approach hinges on two pivotal insights: First, unlike electromagnetic AB effects where constant charge ensures gauge-invariant phases for closed paths, semiclassical gravity couples to the particle's total energy, rendering the AB phase gauge-dependent and unobservable when energies differ between paths due to environmental noise or controlled perturbations. Second, in quantum gravity—treating source, particle, and field as quantum—the total phase splits into a gauge-dependent particle contribution and a gauge-invariant source backreaction, yielding precisely half the nominal AB phase as observable. This halved phase discriminates quantum from classical gravity without requiring massive superpositions, aligning with existing technology. Remarkably, Overstreet et al.'s (Science 375, 226 (2022)) data already reveal a nonzero measured AB phase, providing the first experimental evidence for gravitational quantization.
We introduce and investigate a decoherence mechanism due to quantum gravity effects. By assuming the existence of a fluctuating minimal space length scale, we derive a master equation in Lindblad form induced by the minimal-length-deformed uncertainty principle and we analyze its implications for the decoherence time and the state entropy variation. Further, we show how our model predicts a localization in energy and decoherence timescales consistent with the currently available observational evidence. Finally, we discuss schemes for the experimental verification of our model based on cavity optomechanics setups with ultracold massive molecular oscillators.