Effect of quantum and thermal jitter on the feasibility of Beckenstein's proposed experiment to search for Planck-scale signals

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the impact of quantum and thermal jitter on a proposed experiment to detect Planck-scale signals, concluding that such jitter significantly reduces the experiment's feasibility.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of quantum and thermal jitter effects, challenging the viability of Bekenstein's proposed experiment for detecting space discretization.

Findings

Quantum and thermal jitter greatly diminish the likelihood of detecting Planck-scale signals.

The analysis suggests the experiment's sensitivity is insufficient due to jitter effects.

The results question the practicality of Bekenstein's proposed experimental approach.

Abstract

A proposed experiment to test whether space is discretized [J. D. Bekenstein, Phys. Rev. D 86, 124040 (2012); Found. Phys. 44, 452 (2014)] is based on the supposed impossibility of an incident photon causing a displacement of a transparent block by less than the Planck length. An analysis of the quantum and thermal jitter of the block shows that it greatly diminishes the possibility that the experiment could reveal Planck-scale signals.