A blueprint for a simultaneous test of quantum mechanics and general relativity in a space-based quantum optics experiment

Abstract

In this paper we propose an experiment designed to observe a general-relativistic effect on single photon interference. The experiment consists of a folded Mach-Zehnder interferometer, with the arms distributed between a single Earth orbiter and a ground station. By compensating for other degrees of freedom and the motion of the orbiter, this setup aims to detect the influence of general relativistic time dilation on a spatially superposed single photon. The proposal details a payload to measure the required effect, along with an extensive feasibility analysis given current technological capabilities.

21 pages, 9 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Heralded Generation of Ultrafast Single Photons in Pure Quantum States
• General relativistic effects in quantum interference of photons
• Post-Newtonian gravitational effects in quantum interferometry

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Advances in Space Quantum Communications
• Gravitationally induced phase shift on a single photon
• Limits and prospects for long-baseline optical fiber interferometry
• Entanglement dynamics of photon pairs and quantum memories in the gravitational field of the earth
• Measuring space-time curvature using maximally path-entangled quantum states
• Testing quantum theory on curved space-time with quantum networks
• Gupta-Bleuler quantization of optical fibers in weak gravitational fields
• Quantum Physics in Space
• Quantum interferometry in external gravitational fields