Gravitational coupling of microscopic source masses: challenges for future quantum Cavendish experiments

Event Date:
2021-03-10T11:00:00
2021-03-10T12:00:00
Event Location:
Connect via Zoom
Speaker:
Markus Aspelmeyer, University of Vienna
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Intended Audience:
Graduate
Local Contact:

Miriam Cabero

Event Information:

No experiment today provides evidence that gravity requires a quantum description. It has been suggested that one can at least exclude the possibility for semiclassical gravity by performing an experiment whose outcome cannot be explained by a purely classical source mass configuration. It turns out that such “quantum Cavendish” experiments are challenging, to say the least. I highlight some of the practical aspects of this challenge using the concrete example of our recent measurement of the gravitational field of a 1mm gold sphere, the smallest source mass to date in table-top gravity experiments.

Add to Calendar 2021-03-10T11:00:00 2021-03-10T12:00:00 Gravitational coupling of microscopic source masses: challenges for future quantum Cavendish experiments Event Information: No experiment today provides evidence that gravity requires a quantum description. It has been suggested that one can at least exclude the possibility for semiclassical gravity by performing an experiment whose outcome cannot be explained by a purely classical source mass configuration. It turns out that such “quantum Cavendish” experiments are challenging, to say the least. I highlight some of the practical aspects of this challenge using the concrete example of our recent measurement of the gravitational field of a 1mm gold sphere, the smallest source mass to date in table-top gravity experiments. Event Location: Connect via Zoom