Abstract
It has been suggested that space-time might undergo fluctuations because of its intrinsic quantum nature. These fluctuations would pose a fundamental limit to the ability of measuring distances with arbitrary precision, beyond any limitations due to standard quantum mechanics. Laser interferometers have recently been proposed as being suited for a search for the existence of space-time fluctuations. Here we present results of a search for space-time fluctuations of very low fluctuation frequencies, in the range from 1 μHz to 0.5 Hz. Rigid optical interferometers made out of sapphire and operated at cryogenic temperature were used. We find an upper limit of for the normalized distance noise spectral density at 6 μHz, and of above 5 mHz, and establish an experimental limit for the parameter of a recently proposed random-walk hypothesis.
- Received 18 July 2003
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.69.027504
©2004 American Physical Society