Photon-Counting Interferometry to Detect Geontropic Space-Time Fluctuations with GQuEST

The gravity from the quantum entanglement of space-time (GQuEST) experiment uses tabletop-scale Michelson laser interferometers to probe for fluctuations in space-time. We present a practicable interferometer design featuring a novel photon-counting readout method that provides unprecedented sensiti...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sander M. Vermeulen, Torrey Cullen, Daniel Grass, Ian A. O. MacMillan, Alexander J. Ramirez, Jeffrey Wack, Boris Korzh, Vincent S. H. Lee, Kathryn M. Zurek, Chris Stoughton, Lee McCuller
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2025-02-01
Series:Physical Review X
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.15.011034
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The gravity from the quantum entanglement of space-time (GQuEST) experiment uses tabletop-scale Michelson laser interferometers to probe for fluctuations in space-time. We present a practicable interferometer design featuring a novel photon-counting readout method that provides unprecedented sensitivity, as it is not subject to the interferometric standard quantum limit. We evaluate the potential of this design to measure space-time fluctuations motivated by recent “geontropic” quantum gravity models. The accelerated accrual of Fisher information offered by the photon-counting readout enables GQuEST to detect the predicted quantum gravity phenomena within measurement times at least 100 times shorter than equivalent conventional interferometers. The GQuEST design, thus, enables a fast and sensitive search for signatures of quantum gravity in a laboratory-scale experiment.
ISSN:2160-3308