posted on 2023-06-09, 05:09authored bySam Pallister, Simon Coop, Valerio Formichella, Nicolas Gampierakis, Virginia Notaro, Paul Knott, Rui Azevedo, Nikolaus Buchheim, Silvio de Carvalho, Emilia Järvelä, Matthieu Laporte, Jukka-Pekka Kaikkonen, Neda Meshksar, Timo Nikkanen, Madeleine Yttergren
In this paper we propose an experiment designed to observe a general-relativistic effect on single photon interference. The experiment consists of a folded Mach-Zehnder interferometer, with the arms distributed between a single Earth orbiter and a ground station. By compensating for other degrees of freedom and the motion of the orbiter, this setup aims to detect the influence of general relativistic time dilation on a spatially superposed single photon. The proposal details a payload to measure the required effect, along with an extensive feasibility analysis given current technological capabilities.
Funding
UK Quantum Technology Hub: NQIT-Networked Quantum Information Technologies; G1503; EPSRC-ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL; EP/M013243/1