What happens when quantum mechanics and relativity meet?
Physicists have successfully conducted an experiment using a new interferometer to measure the effects of gravity on an atom in a state of quantum superposition. The study aims to reconcile the conflicting theories of quantum mechanics and general relativity.
Why it matters
This breakthrough provides a new experimental pathway to test fundamental physics, potentially bridging the gap between the quantum world and Einstein's theory of gravity.
Taking both paths What happens when quantum mechanics and relativity meet? Experiment put atoms in a superposition of trajectories to find out.
7 How do you get two quantum states to interfere when one involves moving and the other doesn't? Credit: ALIOUI Mohammed Elamine How do you get two quantum states to interfere when one involves moving and the other doesn't? Credit: ALIOUI Mohammed Elamine Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav Almost a hundred years ago, physicists theorized out what free fall should do to a quantum wave. If the solution they came up with is wrong, quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of gravity flatly contradict each other. But testing it has been impossible because nobody has managed to build an interferometer that could perform the necessary measurement.
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