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arXiv · 1611.01327

A blueprint for a simultaneous test of quantum mechanics and general relativity in a space-based quantum optics experiment

Sam Pallister·Simon Coop·Valerio Formichella·Nicolas Gampierakis·Virginia Notaro·Paul Knott·Rui Azevedo·Nikolaus Buchheim·Silvio de Carvalho·Emilia Jarvela·Matthieu Laporte·Jukka-Pekka Kaikkonen·Neda Meshksar·Timo Nikkanen·Madeleine Yttergren
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Abstract

In this paper we propose an experiment designed to observe a general-relativistic effect on single photon interference. The experiment consists of a folded Mach-Zehnder interferometer, with the arms distributed between a single Earth orbiter and a ground station. By compensating for other degrees of freedom and the motion of the orbiter, this setup aims to detect the influence of general relativistic time dilation on a spatially superposed single photon. The proposal details a payload to measure the required effect, along with an extensive feasibility analysis given current technological capabilities.

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Sam Pallister, Simon Coop, Valerio Formichella, Nicolas Gampierakis, Virginia Notaro, Paul Knott, Rui Azevedo, Nikolaus Buchheim, Silvio de Carvalho, Emilia Jarvela, Matthieu Laporte, Jukka-Pekka Kaikkonen, Neda Meshksar, Timo Nikkanen, Madeleine Yttergren. 2016-11-04. A blueprint for a simultaneous test of quantum mechanics and general relativity in a space-based quantum optics experiment. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjqt%2Fs40507-017-0055-y

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