Journal club seminar: A potential probe of quantum gravity with large molecular wavepackets

Carlos Villalpando  will tell us about "A potential probe of quantum gravity with large molecular wavepackets". The talk is based on two papers:  Minimal length effect on the broadening of free wave packets and its physical implications  and Indirect Probe of Quantum Gravity using Molecular Wave-packets.

Abstract:  The biggest obstacle for a direct test of quantum gravity is its energy scale, which is well outside of the capabilites of any human-made machine; the next best possible approach then is to provide indirect tests on effective theories of quantum gravity, which can be performed in a lower energy scale. This talk will be aimed in this direction, showing a promising path to test the existence of a fundamental, minimal length scale of Nature, by measuring the dispersion of large molecular wave-packets. The existence of this minimal length would imply a modified commutation relation between position and momentum operators, and as we will see, such a modification of the commutator has a profound effect on the dispersion rate of free wave-packets, providing a path for a potential, indirect test of quantum gravity in a laboratory setting.