Wu Hui-Nan, Li Yu-Huai, Li Bo, You Xiang, Liu Run-Ze, Ren Ji-Gang, Yin Juan, Lu Chao-Yang, Cao Yuan, Peng Cheng-Zhi, Pan Jian-Wei
<a href="https://ror.org/01jeedh73">Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale</a> and School of Physical Sciences, <a href="https://ror.org/04c4dkn09">University of Science and Technology of China</a>, 230026, Hefei, China; Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Science and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, <a href="https://ror.org/04c4dkn09">University of Science and Technology of China</a>, 201315, Shanghai, China and Hefei National Laboratory, <a href="https://ror.org/04c4dkn09">University of Science and Technology of China</a>, 230088, Hefei, China.
Phys Rev Lett. 2024 Jul 12;133(2):020201. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.020201.
The emergence of quantum mechanics and general relativity has transformed our understanding of the natural world significantly. However, integrating these two theories presents immense challenges, and their interplay remains untested. Recent theoretical studies suggest that the single-photon interference covering huge space can effectively probe the interface between quantum mechanics and general relativity. We developed an alternative design using unbalanced Michelson interferometers to address this and validated its feasibility over an 8.4 km free-space channel. Using a high-brightness single-photon source based on quantum dots, we demonstrated single-photon interference along this long-distance baseline. We achieved a phase measurement precision of 16.2 mrad, which satisfied the measurement requirements for a gravitational redshift at the geosynchronous orbit by 5 times the standard deviation. Our results confirm the feasibility of the single-photon version of the Colella-Overhauser-Werner experiment for testing the quantum effects in curved spacetime.
量子力学和广义相对论的出现极大地改变了我们对自然世界的理解。然而，将这两种理论整合起来面临着巨大的挑战，它们之间的相互作用仍未得到验证。最近的理论研究表明，覆盖巨大空间的单光子干涉能够有效地探测量子力学与广义相对论之间的界面。我们开发了一种使用非平衡迈克尔逊干涉仪的替代设计来解决这一问题，并在8.4公里的自由空间信道上验证了其可行性。我们使用基于量子点的高亮度单光子源，展示了沿这条长基线的单光子干涉。我们实现了16.2毫弧度的相位测量精度，以5倍标准差满足了地球同步轨道上引力红移的测量要求。我们的结果证实了用于测试弯曲时空中量子效应的科莱拉-奥弗豪泽-维尔纳实验单光子版本的可行性。
