Macroscopic quantum measurements to probe gravity

ORAL  · Invited

Abstract

A pre-eminent problem of modern physics is to reconcile the disparity between the laws of quantum physics – which apply at the small scale – and the laws of gravity – that apply at the large scale. This talk will motivate the nature of the fundamental problem and highlight some of the ideas we are currently pursuing to address it. In particular, a decisive confrontation of gravity and quantum theory calls for mechanical objects, massive enough to measurably gravitate with each other, prepared in quantum states of their motion. We will describe the ideas and the tools that could pave the way towards such an experiment.

*This research is funded in part through an NSF CAREER award (PHY-2441238), Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation grant (GBMF13780), and through the Department of Energy's QuantISED 2.0 program (DE-SC0026164).

Publication: S. Kryhin and V. Sudhir, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 061501 (2025)
D. Shin et al., Optica 12, 473 (2025)
H. Loughlin et al., arXiv:2504.03527
H. Loughlin et al., arXiv:2509.25384

Presenters

  • Vivishek Sudhir

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Authors

  • Vivishek Sudhir

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Serhii Kryhin

    • Harvard University
  • Hudson Alexander Loughlin

    • LIGO Laboratory, MIT
  • Dongchel Shin

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology