Enhancement of quantum gravity signal in an optomechanical experiment

TL;DR

This paper proposes two effects in an optomechanical system that can significantly amplify the gravitationally induced quantum entanglement signal, potentially aiding experimental detection of quantum gravity.

Contribution

It introduces higher-order optomechanical interaction effects and resonance conditions that enhance the gravity signal in optomechanical experiments.

Findings

Signal amplification by a factor of 10^{24} with combined effects.

First-order gravitational coupling effect in optomechanics.

Resonance between oscillators enhances gravitational signal.

Abstract

No experimental evidence of the quantum nature of gravity has been observed yet and a realistic setup with improved sensitivity is eagerly awaited. We find two effects, which can substantially enhance the signal of gravity-induced quantum entanglement, by examining an optomechanical system in which two oscillators gravitationally couple and one composes an optical cavity. The first effect comes from a higher-order term of the optomechanical interaction and generates the signal at the first order of the gravitational coupling in contrast to the second order results in previous works. The second effect is the resonance between the two oscillators. If their frequencies are close enough, the weak gravitational coupling effectively strengthens. Combining these two effects, the signal in the interference visibility could be amplified by a factor of $10^{24}$ for our optimistic parameters. The two effects would be useful in seeking feasible experimental setups to probe quantum gravity signals.