Quantum Sources of Gravity in the Lab

There is no experiment today that tells us if the laws of quantum physics also apply to gravity. One possible approach is to make a quantum object so massive that we can directly measure its gravitational field. This would allow to probe gravitational phenomena that originate in the quantum superposition of a source mass ??" and hence to experimentally distinguish between classical and quantum field theoretic predictions of gravity. Realizing such quantum sources of gravity in the lab requires to explore extreme regimes of both quantum and gravity experiments, specifically: delocalized motional quantum states of sufficiently massive solid-state objects, as well as gravity experiments on the microscopic scale. I review the current status in the lab and the challenges to be overcome for future experiments.

Speaker: Markus Aspelmeyer, University of Vienna