MG13 - Talk detail

Back to previous page

 Participant

Institution

Session

Accepted

Yes

Order

Time

Talk

Title

Abstract

The vacuum of quantum gravity is likely a form of space-time foam which resembles a turbulent fluid. In this perspective, it is conceivable that Lorentz symmetry represents an emergent phenomenon. For this reason, it is interesting to explore other classical and quantum examples where Lorentz symmetry originates from microscopic non-symmetric frameworks which also resemble a turbulent fluid. The persistence of this general picture suggests that this aspect of the vacuum is not a pure speculative issue but might have non-trivial physical implications.

Session

Accepted

Yes

Order

Time

Talk

Title

Abstract

In ether-drift experiments it is assumed that any physical signal detected in a laboratory must be synchronous with the Earth's rotation. The real situation, however, might be more subtle and resemble that of turbulent fluid in which global and local velocities are only indirectly related. A simple numerical simulation of a statistically isotropic and homogeneous turbulent flow shows that, after subtracting known forms of disturbances, the present data require velocity fluctuations whose absolute scale is determined by the Earth's cosmic motion with respect to the CMB (projected in the plane of the interferometer at the latitude of the laboratory). Thus the global Earth's motion, although undetectable from the naive time-dependence of the data, might nevertheless show up in their statistical distributions. Crucial tests of this picture will be obtained with the forthcoming generation of cryogenic experiments with potentially important implications for our understanding of both gravity and relativity (details in arXiv:1204.6157[physics.gen-ph]).

Back to previous page