TY - JOUR
T1 - Testing quantum gravity by nanodiamond interferometry with nitrogen-vacancy centers
AU - Albrecht, Andreas
AU - Retzker, Alex
AU - Plenio, Martin B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 American Physical Society.
PY - 2014/9/22
Y1 - 2014/9/22
N2 - Interferometry with massive particles may have the potential to explore the limitations of standard quantum mechanics, in particular where it concerns its boundary with general relativity and the yet to be developed theory of quantum gravity. This development is hindered considerably by the lack of experimental evidence and testable predictions. Analyzing effects that appear to be common to many of such theories, such as a modification of the energy dispersion and of the canonical commutation relation within the standard framework of quantum mechanics, has been proposed as a possible way forward. Here we analyze in some detail the impact of a modified energy-momentum dispersion in a Ramsey-Bordé setup and provide achievable bounds of these correcting terms when operating such an interferometer with nanodiamonds. Thus, taking thermal and gravitational disturbances into account will show that without specific prerequisites, quantum gravity modifications may in general be suppressed requiring a revision of previously estimated bounds. As a possible solution we propose a stable setup which is rather insensitive to these effects. Finally, we address the problems of decoherence and pulse errors in such setups and discuss the scalings and advantages with increasing particle mass.
AB - Interferometry with massive particles may have the potential to explore the limitations of standard quantum mechanics, in particular where it concerns its boundary with general relativity and the yet to be developed theory of quantum gravity. This development is hindered considerably by the lack of experimental evidence and testable predictions. Analyzing effects that appear to be common to many of such theories, such as a modification of the energy dispersion and of the canonical commutation relation within the standard framework of quantum mechanics, has been proposed as a possible way forward. Here we analyze in some detail the impact of a modified energy-momentum dispersion in a Ramsey-Bordé setup and provide achievable bounds of these correcting terms when operating such an interferometer with nanodiamonds. Thus, taking thermal and gravitational disturbances into account will show that without specific prerequisites, quantum gravity modifications may in general be suppressed requiring a revision of previously estimated bounds. As a possible solution we propose a stable setup which is rather insensitive to these effects. Finally, we address the problems of decoherence and pulse errors in such setups and discuss the scalings and advantages with increasing particle mass.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908665371&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevA.90.033834
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevA.90.033834
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AN - SCOPUS:84908665371
SN - 1050-2947
VL - 90
JO - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
JF - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
IS - 3
M1 - 033834
ER -