Physicists observe Einstein's equivalence principle holding for a falling quantum object
An international team used a new 'Quantum Galileo Interferometer' to show gravity affects a quantum superposition exactly as Einstein's theory predicts.
What to know
- Researchers built a 'Quantum Galileo Interferometer' to test Einstein's equivalence principle on an atom held in quantum superposition, splitting its wave into a stationary path and a freely falling path.
- The measured quantum-state change matched exactly what Einstein's principle predicts, extending a century of classical-matter tests into the quantum regime for the first time.
- Researchers stress the result does not prove gravity itself is quantum, only that the equivalence principle still holds under the tested conditions.
- The technique could be extended to heavier objects such as nanodiamonds to probe whether quantum mechanics breaks down under more extreme conditions.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Lead institutionUniversity of Oxford Collaborating institutionUniversity of Ulm Collaborating institution
Roger Penrose Nobel Prize-winning physicist on the team
Wolfgang Schleich Quantum theory specialist, University of Ulm
The record 12 articles and posts · last 22 days
- summary covers to here · Sep 4, 4:21 AM · 4 pieces above arrived after
What people are saying 8 voices from 2 sites · best of 10 · verbatim
- Sep 8
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It's a quiet test of Penrose's idea that gravitational interactions cause objective collapse of superposition.Maybe there's something subtle in the details which explains why it isn't that, but it certainly looks adjacent to it - although maybe not deliberately?
- Sep 7
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Mind-bending stuff. Always wondered when we'd start seeing GR effects pop up at the quantum scale, makes sense.
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Vlatko tends to show up on papers with let's say, big claims. Consider the superconducting qubit/Tardigrade paper
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Is it a subtle effect that cannot be explained by Newtonian gravity (i.e. a different potential affecting, V(z) in the Hamiltonian)?
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I am not very well versed in the subject butif quantum objects can fall and multiple quantum waves can occupy the same space, then why doesn't everything always collapse into a single point?Why does it only happen in black holes and outside of that quantum waves instead create emergent systems instead of just collapsing together?Does high…
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Here's the [paper][1] on the arxiv.I found it hard to believe that they accounted for other forces precisely enough that they could attribute the phase change to gravity, but this is beyond me so I trust the result.At first I thought "they showed that you can measure a particle falling in gravity," which seemed dumb because we already know that…
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I was wondering last night: are any of the fundamental forces "blocked" by an intervening object? I assume not, since there is nothing like that in the equations. But that is kind of interesting, since sometimes you hear talk of hypothetical particles like gravitons.
- Sep 6
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It's a very interesting question. I had to look this up and yes, tidal forces would be a giveaway. But the principle is defined as a local effect - pointwise, really - so in an environment big enough where tidal forces have an effect is deliberately excluded from the principle. Sounds weak, but it's the real kicker of the equivalence principle…