Features

Mar 1, 1997

Atom interferometry, spacetime andreality

Physicists have long wanted to unify Einstein's theory of general relativity with quantum mechanics into an all-purpose "quantum gravity" theory. But to test such a theory is out of the question with direct experiments. You would have to accelerate subato mic particles to energies that are a billion billion times higher than currently possible at any particle physics lab. But with a cheap and cheerful atom interferometer on your lab bench, Ian Percival shows how you can test the theory indirectly - and probe the interface between classical and quantum physics to boot.