Gravitational Quantum Mechanics @ OGRE

Among the most fundamental mysteries in all of physics is whether gravity is a quantum mechanical entity. A theoretical resolution to this question is essential, but it seems to require either unification of quantum mechanics with general relativity, or development of a new overarching theory of physics. Moreover, there is a complete lack of empirical phenomenology to guide this endeavour. While vanguard theoretical efforts are today represented by string theory and loop quantum gravity, there is no equivalently ambitious experimental program to explore the quantum mechanics of gravitation. The reason is both simple and profound: gravitational interactions are tens of orders of magnitude weaker than those of any other force of nature. Indeed, since Feynman’s original proposals in the 1950’s, experimental efforts to study quantum gravity have proven largely fruitless. To make such empirical studies a reality requires a completely new experimental paradigm in which interactions between massive objects in the quantum regime are dominated by gravitation. The Oxford Gravity Explorer (OGRE) Project is designed to achieve this objective.