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Emil Broukal

Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information

Supervisors: Marios Christodoulou (Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information) – Markus Aspelmeyer (University of Vienna)

Short Bio: I have studied physics at the University of Vienna and I am currently a PhD-Student in the group of Marios Christodoulou at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Vienna. I’m interested in fundamental questions in physics, especially at the intersection of gravity and quantum mechanics. My goal for this project is to find new ways to contribute to the broader effort of experimentally testing gravity in quantum systems.

New Directions in Table Top Quantum Gravity

Project summary: Perhaps one of the most intriguing open questions in contemporary physics is does gravity obey the rules of quantum mechanics? To this day, no experiment has been performed to give conclusive evidence that this is the case.
Early sketches of a possible experiment to test this question were given by Richard Feynman, who in 1957 argued that detecting the gravitational influence of a source mass in superposition would give evidence of the quantum nature of gravity. At the time, this was viewed solely as an unrealistic idea. In recent years, remarkable advances in quantum technologies and precision measurements of gravity have made the realisation of an experiment in the spirit of what Feynman envisioned an achievable task for the next decades. This had lead to a flourishing new field, often called Table Top Quantum Gravity.

My project aims to clarify open question in already existing experimental proposals and find new and improved proposals for realistically feasible table top quantum gravity experiments that will help us to understand how gravity works between systems in the quantum regime. To do this, we will apply previously unused theoretical frameworks while also incorporating modern experimental platforms, such as superconductors or levitating nanoparticles. This of course requires to understand and develop new ideas on the theoretical side, but also to understand the amazing potential as well as the limitations of what can be implemented in the lab. Training in both theoretical and experimental physics is thus a big requirement for the success of my project.