In 1913, French physicist Georges Sagnac demonstrated the Sagnac effect, revealing that light travels at different speeds in opposite directions in a spinning frame of reference. Over a century later, physicists at the University of Vienna have taken this classic experiment to a new level by injecting entangled photons into a rotating fiber optic setup. Led by Raffaele Silvestri and Philip Walther, the team has measured the rotation of the Earth itself with unparalleled precision, marking a significant advancement in understanding the interplay between quantum mechanics and gravity.
The team’s work, published in Science Advances, involved the construction of a massive quantum-enhanced Sagnac interferometer. This device splits light into two beams, sending them in opposite directions around a closed path before recombining them. As a result of the Earth’s rotation, the light traveling in the direction of the spin undergoes a slightly shorter path compared to the light traveling against it, creating a detectable interference pattern when the beams reunite.
This groundbreaking experiment not only demonstrates the marriage of quantum mechanics and gravity but also opens up new possibilities for probing and understanding these fundamental concepts. The unprecedented precision achieved in measuring the Earth’s rotation through quantum entanglement showcases the potential for future research and discoveries at the intersection of quantum mechanics and classical physics.
The implications of this quantum-enhanced measurement of Earth’s rotation go beyond conventional techniques, offering a glimpse into previously unexplored realms of quantum technologies and their potential applications in the study of gravitational effects on quantum systems. This achievement paves the way for further advancements in quantum-enhanced measurements and their real-world applications, promising to deepen our understanding of the fundamental forces that shape the universe.
