Holometer Fermilab E-990 experiment (?)

[MrAmsterdam]

Does anyone understand the following experiment ?

http://holometer.fnal.gov/

Holometer

The Fermilab Holometer is a new kind of instrument designed to study the quantum character of space itself. It measures the quantum coherence of location with unprecedented precision.

Laser light passing through an arrangement of mirrors will show whether space stands still, or whether it always jitters by a tiny amount, carrying all matter with it, due to quantum-geometrical fluctuations. We call this new property of space time ``holographic'' noise.

The experiment will help us understand space and time better: what they are made of, and how they relate to matter and energy.

The experiment, also known as Fermilab E-990, is currently collecting data. Stay tuned!

http://holometer.fnal.gov/faq.html#experiment


What is the basic strategy?

A Michelson Interferometer measures the x and y positions of the beam splitter (half silvered mirror) simultaneously. We monitor how much the beam splitter moves due to ordinary effects, such as vibrations from ground motion. We place two of these interferometers close to each other, so that the jitter from holographic noise from the two interferometers is coherent. This helps us measure the very small effect of holographic noise.

As shown in this figure, we will build the interferometers so they can operate in a "nested" or "back-to-back" configuration. The nested configuration maximizes the amount of coherence between the two interferometers. On one of the interferometers we can flip the direction of one of the arms while keeping everything else identical as much as possible. The holographic noise in this "back-to-back" configuration will not be coherent, and serves as an important test that we have correctly accounted for all sources of noise in the experiment.


How do you make this measurement?

We operate a power recycled Michelson Interferometer and monitor the (x,y) position of the beam splitter as a function of time.

The source sends monchromatic photons into the interferometer from the left. Each photon strikes the power recycling mirror (PRM). The probability that the photon will reflect off the PRM depends on the reflectivities of the mirrors and on the total length of the interferometer (L in the diagram). If L is exactly an integral number of wavelengths of the photon, then the photon is most likely to be absorbed into the cavity. We use a laser which allows us to control the wavelength of light it produces. We monitor the number of photons that do not get absorbed into the interferometer and set the wavelength of light to maximize the number of photons absorbed into the interferometer.

When a photon meets the beam splitter mirror (BSM) its quantum state changes to a combination of two states, one propagating up and the other propagating to the right. After reflection from the two end mirrors (M1 and M2) these states recombine and the direction of propagation depends on the difference in arm lengths L1−L2. We monitor light at the detector, and tune the path length difference (L1−L2) to hold the number of photons reaching the detector to a set level. The remaining photons propagate to the left, and then are reflected by the PRM to repeat the process.

I found an interview on http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... om/node/77 with the project's director Professor Craig Hogan.

[Solar]

This is an idea that results from theoretical physicist/cosmologist incorporating (or absconding with) Claude Shannon’s - ‘Information Theory’ on the one hand – coupled with relativistic “space time” concepts on the other – coupled with String Theory on the third – and “black hole thermodynamics" on the fourth hand - into their ideas about the universe.

When churned together this is what happens when theoretical physicist try to discover whether or not “space” (as in “space-time” fabric) is ‘Something’. Actually, they already know that “space” is a ‘Something’; they just don’t know what That Something’ is like and/or how matter and energy evolve out of That Something. They inform as to "space" being a 'Something' by virtue of statements like:

Laser light passing through an arrangement of mirrors will show whether space stands still, or whether it always jitters by a tiny amount, carrying all matter with it, due to quantum-geometrical fluctuations. We call this new property of space time ``holographic'' noise. - Holometer

The signature for the idea of “holographic noise”, would register as a pervasive ‘hiss’ depending on the nature of the experiment just like the ‘hiss’ that was immediately incorporated into the big bang theory), but it has not been found. This experiment is designed to look for its existence. Likewise this means that one has another theory waiting for a ‘hiss’ to lay claim to. Several years ago (2009) a claim was made that an unidentified noise in “gravity wave” detector GEO600 had possibly found the “holographic noise”. It didn’t; so it is still being sought for by using, of all things, an Interferometer … like, well gosh; like Michaelson when looking for evidence for the existence of The Aether.

Let’s look at this principle (“Space” as ‘Something’) from another perspective:

One of my longtime favorite physicist is Reginald T. Cahill who refers to the nature of “space” as “Dynamical 3-Space”. In other words “space” as a dynamical (moving) three dimensional ‘Something’. The chaps conducting this experiment are trying to see if the ‘Something’ of “Space” is quantized which requires little individualized signals having a rise and fall even at the plank scale. So the question is ‘Is space composed of individualized quantum units?' - that, if discovered, will probably be given a name ending with –on (electron, muon, holo-on, gluon etc… you know). This time around though, they want to indirectly detect (which means infer) a small Plankian movement of the Interferometers …:

If I understand correctly, a Planck length is a trillion-trillion times smaller than a hydrogen atom. How is it possible to study anything at that scale?

Prof. Hogan: We cannot see it directly, but detect its indirect effects. If a system moves randomly by a Planck length every Planck time, then in the course of a microsecond it will move more than an attometer, a detectable amount.- Do We Live in a Two-Dimensional Universe? An Interview with Physicist Craig Hogan

So, as someone who considers The Dynamic Aether (the ‘substance of “space”) as fact these are interesting curiosities in a world of physics thinking itself told to forget about such things only to reinvent the very same thing they thought themselves told was nonexistent. The principle is the same regardless of all of the names and such.