Jul 25, 2015 10:12 AM
http://fqxi.org/community/articles/display/204
EXCERPT: [...] This quantum tunneling effect has been demonstrated for small particles. Physicists have also confirmed that subatomic particles can have a wave-like nature and can exist in superposition states of being in two places at once. But despite ample proof for the theory, Houdini-sized objects stubbornly refuse to follow suit.
Now, Keith Schwab [...] wants to identify why the large-scale classical world is governed by different rules to the quantum realm. The key, Schwab thinks, may be that gravity nudges particles out of their fragile quantum states, forcing them to adhere to more familiar classical rules.
[...] Theoretical physicists have been trying for decades to solve the mismatch between quantum mechanics and gravity. It’s been a particularly hard struggle because there are no direct tests of quantum gravity to guide them. That’s because quantum gravity is usually thought to only apply in the most extreme conditions, where huge amounts of gravity are confined into small spaces—such as, in the heart of a black hole. Even the most powerful particle accelerators cannot probe the quantum gravity regime.
[...] Together with theoretical physicist Miles Blencowe [...] Schwab uses the power of the principle of equivalence to create circumstances which physicists can use to investigate the quantum mechanical behaviour of small mechanical structures in much higher gravitational fields. The principle [...] dictates that gravity and acceleration are equivalent. That means that by shaking his mechanical devices (in this case a nanowire) back and forth at very high frequencies—about a billion times a second—Schwab can achieve accelerations of about 100 million times the acceleration of the Earth’s gravitational field, mimicking the arenas in which quantum gravity comes into play....
EXCERPT: [...] This quantum tunneling effect has been demonstrated for small particles. Physicists have also confirmed that subatomic particles can have a wave-like nature and can exist in superposition states of being in two places at once. But despite ample proof for the theory, Houdini-sized objects stubbornly refuse to follow suit.
Now, Keith Schwab [...] wants to identify why the large-scale classical world is governed by different rules to the quantum realm. The key, Schwab thinks, may be that gravity nudges particles out of their fragile quantum states, forcing them to adhere to more familiar classical rules.
[...] Theoretical physicists have been trying for decades to solve the mismatch between quantum mechanics and gravity. It’s been a particularly hard struggle because there are no direct tests of quantum gravity to guide them. That’s because quantum gravity is usually thought to only apply in the most extreme conditions, where huge amounts of gravity are confined into small spaces—such as, in the heart of a black hole. Even the most powerful particle accelerators cannot probe the quantum gravity regime.
[...] Together with theoretical physicist Miles Blencowe [...] Schwab uses the power of the principle of equivalence to create circumstances which physicists can use to investigate the quantum mechanical behaviour of small mechanical structures in much higher gravitational fields. The principle [...] dictates that gravity and acceleration are equivalent. That means that by shaking his mechanical devices (in this case a nanowire) back and forth at very high frequencies—about a billion times a second—Schwab can achieve accelerations of about 100 million times the acceleration of the Earth’s gravitational field, mimicking the arenas in which quantum gravity comes into play....