IQIM Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Seminar

Abstract: General relativity is among the most thoroughly tested pillars of modern physics. The remarkable precision of atomic clocks, for example, now allows verification of the gravitational redshift at millimeter scales on Earth. Yet the interface between general relativity and quantum theory remains essentially unexplored, with no experimental input beyond the Newtonian limit to date. In this talk, I will discuss how post-Newtonian effects in quantum theory can be probed using proper-time interferometry, where clocks experience different proper times in quantum superpositions. I will show how the relevant coupling between gravity and a composite quantum system arises, deriving the mass-energy equivalence from first principles and resolving a conundrum in general relativity dating back to Eddington in 1938. Building on the derived fundamental Hamiltonian, I will describe how experiments with atomic clocks can test quantum theory in curved space-time and quantum features of proper time, and outline specific implementations based on trapped ion clocks and quantum networks.

Following the talk, lunch will be provided on the lawn outside East Bridge.