The Holometer experiment at Fermilab is designed to study a conjectured effect called "holographic noise" that may arise from new Planck scale physics: the measured positions of bodies may wander randomly from the geodesics of classical relativity, in measurement-dependent directions by about a Planck length per Planck time. The experiment will search for this holographic jitter in the relation of mass energy and space time by looking for correlated phase noise between two neighboring interferometers to provide convincing evidence for or against the hypothesized effect. A positive result would be a major step forward in understanding the emergence of space-time and mass-energy from a unified theory of gravity, space-time and quantum mechanics. A negative result will impact the macroscopic interpretation of unified theories.
This award will enable the PI to collaborate in the search for Holographic Planck Scale Noise. The experiment, under construction and testing at Fermilab, will search for the correlation of the two noise signals from two nearby simple Michelson Interferometers. This correlated noise should depend on the relative displacement and orientation of the two interferometers, thus making incisive tests possible. This experiment will be the first targeted specifically to measure this fundamental minimum interval of space-time. It could make the first direct measurement of a universal noise in space-time caused by that fundamental Planck scale graininess.
Broader Impacts: Apart from the possibly very significant impact on physics and the way space-time is viewed, even a negative result would provide strong graduate physics training and an excellent career launching experience. This experiment is a good hands-on physics project, with multiple opportunities for real mentor contact, and with the experimental reality of debugging, diagnosing and making measurements; the PI has a strong personal outreach program to undergraduates and has mentored undergraduates in summer research projects for more than 10 years.
