Observation of a gravitational Aharonov-Bohm effect and its implications for quantum superpositions of Newtonian gravitational fields
by
Mark Kasevich(Physics Department, Stanford University, USA)
→
Europe/Zurich
Description
The gravitational interaction of a tungsten source mass with atomic wavepackets has been observed in an atom deBroglie wave interferometer, in a regime where the separation distance between the interfering wavepackets is comparable to their distance to the source mass. We will discuss this experiment in the context of Aharonov-Bohm effects. We will describe the relevance of these results to observation of quantum superpositions of Newtonian gravitational fields.