Trace of phase-space noncommutativity in the response of a free particle to linearized gravitational waves

TL;DR

This paper investigates how phase-space noncommutativity affects a free particle's response to gravitational waves, revealing a distinctive oscillatory noise that could serve as evidence for noncommutative geometry.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum mechanical analysis of gravitational wave interaction with particles in noncommutative phase-space, highlighting the potential observational signature of momentum noncommutativity.

Findings

Momentum noncommutativity causes a specific oscillatory noise.

The noise has a frequency determined by fundamental parameters.

Detection could confirm noncommutative phase-space theories.

Abstract

Interaction of linearized gravitational waves with a otherwise free particle has been studied quantum mechanically in a noncommutative phase-space to examine whether the particle's response to the gravitational wave gets modified due to spatial and/or momentum noncommutativity. The result shows that momentum noncommutativity introduces a oscillatory noise with a specific frequency determined by the fundamental momentum scale and particle mass. Because of the global nature of the phase-space noncommutativity such noise will have similar characteristics for all detector sites and thus will stand out in a data cross-correlation procedure. If detected, this noise will provide evidence of momentum noncommutativity and also an estimation of the relevant noncommutative parameter.