Einstein's principle of equivalence passed a quantum test скачать в хорошем качестве

Einstein's principle of equivalence passed a quantum test

Einstein's principle of equivalence is of fundamental importance for the understanding of gravity and space-time. The principle has been tested only for systems in a well-defined, classical state of their total mass. Now an article in Nature Communications reports the first test of the Einstein's principle of equivalence for atoms whose total mass was in a quantum superposition state. The experiment realised carried out by the international team led by Prof. Guglielmo Tino at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Florence and National Institute for Nuclear Physics can be seen as a quantum analogue of the apocryphal test of 16th century Italian scientist Galileo Galilei who realized that various bodies fall with the same gravitational acceleration considering dropping spheres of different mass from the leaning tower of Pisa. The collaboration includes also experimentalists from the University of Bologna and the European Space Agency and theorists from the University of Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of Queensland.