We address the question whether quantum probes in a gravitational field can be considered as test particles obeying the weak equivalence principle (WEP). A formulation of the WEP is proposed which applies also in the quantum regime, while maintaining the physical content of its classical counterpart. Such formulation requires the introduction of a gravitational field not to modify the Fisher information about the mass of a freely-falling probe, extractable through measurements of its position. We discover that, while in a uniform field quantum probes satisfy our formulation of the WEP exactly, gravity gradients can encode nontrivial information about the particle's mass in its wavefunction, leading to violations of the WEP.
Higher-dimensional theories of the kind which may unify gravitation with particle physics can lead to significant modifications of general relativity. In five dimensions, the vacuum becomes non-standard, and the Weak Equivalence Principle becomes a geometrical symmetry which can be broken, perhaps at a level detectable by new tests in space.
Can quantum-mechanical particles propagating on a fixed spacetime background be approximated as test bodies satisfying the weak equivalence principle? We ultimately answer the question in the negative but find that, when universality of free-fall is assessed locally, a nontrivial agreement between quantum mechanics and the weak equivalence principle exists. Implications for mass sensing by quantum probes are discussed in some details.
In order to investigate the long-term dimensional stability of matter, we have operated an optical resonator fabricated from crystalline silicon at 1.5$\,$K continuously for over one year and repeatedly compared its resonance frequency $f_{res}$ with the frequency of a GPS-monitored hydrogen maser. After allowing for an initial settling time, over a 163-day interval we found a mean fractional drift magnitude $|f_{res}^{-1}df_{res}/dt|<1.4\times10^{-20}$/s. The resonator frequency is determined by the physical length and the speed of light, and we measure it with respect to the atomic unit of t…
The proposed Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle (STEP) will detect possible violations of the Weak Equivalence Principle by measuring relative accelerations between test masses of different composition with a precision of one part in $10^{18}$. A serendipitous byproduct of the experimental design is that the absolute (common-mode) acceleration of the test masses is also measured to high precision as they oscillate along a common axis under the influence of restoring forces produced by the position sensor currents, which in drag-free mode lead to Newtonian accelerations as small as $10…
The skewness of the large scale distribution of matter has long been known to be a probe of gravitational clustering. Here we show that the skewness is also a probe of violation of the equivalence principle between dark matter and baryons. The predicted level of violation can be tested with the forecoming data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
Dark energy in General Relativity is typically non-interacting with other matter. However, it is possible that the dark energy interacts with the dark matter, and in this case, the dark matter can violate the universality of free fall (the weak equivalence principle). We show that some forms of the dark sector interaction do not violate weak equivalence. For those interactions that do violate weak equivalence, there are no available laboratory experiments to probe this violation for dark matter. But cosmology provides a test for violations of the equivalence principle between dark matter and b…
Recent results have shown that a field non-minimally coupled to the electromagnetic Lagrangian can induce a violation of the Einstein equivalence principle. { This kind of coupling is present in a very wide class of gravitation theories.} In a cosmological context, this would break the validity of the cosmic distance duality relation as well as cause a time variation of the fine structure constant. Here, we improve constraints on this scenario by using four different observables: the luminosity distance of type Ia supernovae, the angular diameter distance of galaxy clusters, the gas mass fract…
Satellite laser-ranging is successfully used in space geodesy, geodynamics and Earth sciences; and to test fundamental physics and specific features of General Relativity. We present a confirmation to approximately one part in a billion of the fundamental weak equivalence principle (uniqueness of free fall) in the Earth's gravitational field, obtained with three laser-ranged satellites, at previously untested range and with previously untested materials. The weak equivalence principle is at the foundation of General Relativity and of most gravitational theories.
Universality of motion under gravity, the equivalence principle, is violated for quantum particles. Here, we study time it takes for a quantum particle to scatter from the gravitational potential, and show that the scattering time, formulated here using the opportune Bohmian formulation, acts as an indicator of the equivalence principle violation. The scattering times of wavepackets are distinctive enough to distinguish between the Bohmian and Copenhagen interpretations. The scattering time of mono-energetic stationary states, formulated here as a modification of the Bohmian time by probabilit…
In this talk, we review the empirical status for modern gravitational theories with emphases on (i) Equivalence Principles; (ii) Lense-Thirring effects and the implications of Gravity Probe B experiment; (iii) Solar-System Tests of Cosmological Models.
The motion of a composite system made of N particles is examined in a space with a canonical noncommutative algebra of coordinates. It is found that the coordinates of the center-of-mass position satisfy noncommutative algebra with effective parameter. Therefore, the upper bound of the parameter of noncommutativity is re-examined. We conclude that the weak equivalence principle is violated in the case of a non-uniform gravitational field and propose the condition for the recovery of this principle in noncommutative space. Furthermore, the same condition is derived from the independence of kine…
Gauge field theories may quite generally be defined as describing the coupling of a matter-field to an interaction-field, and they are suitably represented in the mathematical framework of fiber bundles. Their underlying principle is the so-called gauge principle, which is based on the idea of deriving the coupling structure of the fields by satisfying a postulate of local gauge covariance. The gauge principle is generally considered to be sufficient to define the full structure of gauge-field theories. This paper contains a critique of this usual point of view: firstly, by emphazising an gaug…
Three conceptually different masses appear in equations of motion for objects under gravity, namely, the inertial mass, $m_{\cal I}$, the passive gravitational mass, $m_{\cal P}$, and the active gravitational mass, $m_{\cal A}$. It is assumed that, for any objects, $m_{\cal I} = m_{\cal P} = m_{\cal A}$ in the Newtonian gravity, and $m_{\cal I} = m_{\cal P}$ in the Einsteinian gravity, oblivious to objects' sophisticated internal structure. Empirical examination of the equivalence probes deep into gravity theories. We study the possibility of carrying out new tests based on pulsar timing of th…
We present a novel fundamental effect that for the matter waves the space-averaging free-fall point of quantum particles undergoes a spin-dependent transverse shift in the gravitational field of Earth. This effect is similar to the geometric spin Hall effect (GSHE) [Aiello et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 100401 (2009)] and can be called gravity-induced GSHE. This effect suggests that there might be violations of the universality of free fall (UFF) or weak equivalence principle (WEP) in the quantum domain.
Point particles fall freely along geodesics; strings do not. In string theory all probes of spacetime structure, including photons, are extended objects and therefore always subject to tidal forces. We illustrate how string theory modifies the behavior of light in weak gravitational fields and limits the applicability of the principle of equivalence. This gives in principle a window on the short-distance structure of geometry in quantum gravity where one can see in a model-independent way how some of its predictions differ from those of classical gravity. We compare this with the lessons of hi…
Experiments on the violation of equivalence principle (EP) and solar system give a number of constraints in which any modified gravity model must satisfy them. We study these constraints on a kind of $f(R)$ gravity as $f(R) = R(1\pm ε\ln({R \over R_c}))$. For this investigation we use of chameleon mechanism and show that a spherically body has thin-shell in this model. So that we obtain an effective coupling of the fifth force which is suppressed through a chameleon mechanism. Also, we obtain $γ_{PPN} = 1 \pm 1.13 \times10^{-5}$ which is agreement with experiment results. At last, we show that…
Testing the strong equivalence principle with multimessenger binary neutron star mergers
Chongqing University（重庆大学）；National Microgravity Laboratory, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院力学研究所微重力实验室）；Peking University（北京大学）；Dalian University of Technology（大连理工大学）；The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology（香港科技大学）；Zhengzhou University（郑州大学）
We consider the effect of a long range, flavor changing tensor interaction of possible gravitational origin. Neutrino mixing experiments provide the most sensitive probe to date for such forces---testing the equivalence principle at levels below $10^{-20}$. Here we justify and generalize a formalism for describing such effects. The constraints from neutrino mixing experiments on gravitationally induced mixing are calculated. Our detailed analysis of the atmospheric neutrino data confirms a remarkable result: the atmospheric neutrino data implies the same size force as does the solar neutrino d…
We propose the almost-geodesic motion of self-gravitating test bodies as a possible selection rule among metric theories of gravity. Starting from a heuristic statement, the "gravitational weak equivalence principle", we build a formal, operative test able to probe the validity of the principle for any metric theory of gravity, in an arbitrary number of spacetime dimensions. We show that, if the theory admits a well-posed variational formulation, this test singles out only the purely metric theories of gravity. This conclusion reproduces known results in the cases of general relativity (also w…
In this work we present a generalized Laplace method for a formal, simple, quasi-classical, determination of the outer and inner horizon radius of Kerr-Newman black hole. We consider classical gravitational interaction between a thin, with homogeneously distributed mass and electric charge, spherical (black) shell and a probe particle. Also, we use relativistic equivalence principle. Finally we suppose that probe particle propagates radially to shell with speed of light while tangentially it rotates in common with shell, so that total energy of a probe particle equals zero.
The weak equivalence principle is one of the cornerstone of general relativity. Its validity has been tested with impressive precision in the Solar System, with experiments involving baryonic matter and light. However, on cosmological scales and when dark matter is concerned, the validity of this principle is still unknown. In this paper we construct a null test that probes the validity of the equivalence principle for dark matter. Our test has the strong advantage that it can be applied on data without relying on any modelling of the theory of gravity. It involves a combination of redshift-sp…
We analyse the effective potential of the scalar wave equation near generic space-time singularities of power-law type (Szekeres-Iyer metrics) and show that the effective potential exhibits a universal and scale invariant leading x^{-2} inverse square behaviour in the ``tortoise coordinate'' x provided that the metrics satisfy the strict Dominant Energy Condition (DEC). This result parallels that obtained in hep-th/0403252 for probes consisting of families of massless particles (null geodesic deviation, a.k.a. the Penrose Limit). The detailed properties of the scalar wave operator depend sensi…
We consider the problem of testing the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) by measuring the gravitational redshift with two Earth-orbiting stable atomic clocks. For a reasonably restricted class of orbits we find an optimal experiment configuration that provides for the maximum accuracy of measuring the relevant EEP violation parameter. The perigee height of such orbits is $\sim$~1,000~km and the period is 3--5~hr, depending on the clock type. For the two of the current best space-qualified clocks, the VCH-1010 hydrogen maser and the PHARAO cesium fountain clock, the achievable experiment acc…
The symmetry of the theory of relativity under diffeomorphisms strongly depends on the equivalence principle. Violation of Equivalence Principle (VEP) can be tested by looking for deviations from the standard framework of neutrino oscillations. In recent works, it has been shown that strong constraints on the VEP parameter space can be placed by means of the atmospheric neutrinos observed by the IceCube neutrino telescope. In this paper, we focus on the KM3NeT neutrino telescope and perform a forecast analysis to assess its capacity to probe VEP. Most importantly, we examine the crucial role p…
The joint realm of quantum mechanics and the general-relativistic description of gravitation is becoming increasingly accessible to terrestrial experiments and observations. In this essay we study the emerging indications of the violation of equivalence principle (VEP). While the solar neutrino anomaly may find its natural explanation in a VEP, the statistically significant discrepancy observed in the gravitationally induced phases of neutron interferometry seems to be the first indication of a VEP. However, such a view would seem immediately challenged by the atomic interferometry results. Th…
The ultra-precise Gravity Probe B experiment measured the frame-dragging effect and geodetic precession on four quartz gyros. We use this result to test WEP II (Weak Equivalence Principle II) which includes rotation in the universal free-fall motion. The free-fall Eötvös parameter eta for rotating body is < = 10**(-11) with four-order improvement over previous results. The anomalous torque per unit angular momentum parameter lambda is constrained to (-0.05 +- 3.67) \times 10**(-15) s-1, (0.24 +- 0.98) \times 10**(-15) s-1, and (0 +- 3.6) \times 10**(-13) s-1 respectively in the directions of g…
We report on a conceptually new test of the equivalence principle performed by measuring the acceleration in Earth's gravity field of two isotopes of strontium atoms, namely, the bosonic $^{88}$Sr isotope which has no spin vs the fermionic $^{87}$Sr isotope which has a half-integer spin. The effect of gravity upon the two atomic species has been probed by means of a precision differential measurement of the Bloch frequency for the two atomic matter waves in a vertical optical lattice. We obtain the values $η= (0.2\pm 1.6)\times10^{-7}$ for the Eötvös parameter and $k=(0.5\pm1.1)\times10^{-7}$ …
If the fundamental constants of nature have a cosmic spatial variation, there will in general be extra forces with a preferred direction in space which violate the equivalence principle. We show that the millimeter-precision Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation provides a very sensitive probe of such variation that has the capability of detecting a cosmic gradient of the ratio between the quark masses and the strong interaction scale at the level with the gradient of ln (m_quark/Lambda_QCD) ~ 2.6 x 10^-6 Glyr^-1, which is comparable to the cosmic gradients suggested by the re…
