Observation of the quantum phase of free fall and the consistency with the equivalence principle

Abstract

The unification of quantum theory and the general theory of relativity, describing gravity, is one of the most important challenges in science. Einstein’s general theory of relativity is based on the principle of equivalence and has been confirmed to great accuracy for large bodies. However, in the quantum domain, the equivalence principle has been predicted to take a unique form involving a gauge phase, which is equal, in the context of a measurement on Earth, to the quantum phase of a free-falling wave packet relative to its counterpart wave packet which is static in Earth’s frame. To measure this phase, we realize a novel cold-atom interferometer in which one wave packet stays static in the laboratory frame while the other is in free fall. The observed relative phase of the wave packets confirms the predicted phase and shows that, in our low energy regime, the equivalence principle may be applied to the quantum domain. Our observation constitutes a fundamental test of the interface between quantum theory and gravity. The new interferometer also opens the door for further probing of the latter interface, as well as to searches for new physics.