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- Title
Gravitational bar detectors set limits to Planck-scale physics on macroscopic variables.
- Authors
Marin, Francesco; Marino, Francesco; Bonaldi, Michele; Cerdonio, Massimo; Conti, Livia; Falferi, Paolo; Mezzena, Renato; Ortolan, Antonello; Prodi, Giovanni A.; Taffarello, Luca; Vedovato, Gabriele; Vinante, Andrea; Zendri, Jean-Pierre
- Abstract
Different approaches to quantum gravity, such as string theory and loop quantum gravity, as well as doubly special relativity and gedanken experiments in black-hole physics, all indicate the existence of a minimal measurable length of the order of the Planck length, . This observation has motivated the proposal of generalized uncertainty relations, which imply changes in the energy spectrum of quantum systems. As a consequence, quantum gravitational effects could be revealed by experiments able to test deviations from standard quantum mechanics, such as those recently proposed on macroscopic mechanical oscillators. Here we exploit the sub-millikelvin cooling of the normal modes of the ton-scale gravitational wave detector AURIGA, to place an upper limit for possible Planck-scale modifications on the ground-state energy of an oscillator. Our analysis calls for the development of a satisfactory treatment of multi-particle states in the framework of quantum gravity models.
- Subjects
GRAVITATION; DETECTORS; FOKKER-Planck equation; MATHEMATICAL variables; QUANTUM gravity; PHYSICS experiments
- Publication
Nature Physics, 2013, Vol 9, Issue 2, p71
- ISSN
1745-2473
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/nphys2503