Abstract:
The VIP experiment, operated at the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratories of INFN, is dedicated to experimental studies of the foundations of Quantum Mechanics (QM), focusing on models of dynamical wave function collapse and high-sensitivity tests of the Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP) for electrons. The unification of QM and General Relativity remains one of the central ambitions of modern physics. Motivated by the understanding that space-time fluctuations may induce decoherence in quantum systems, the idea of “gravitizing” QM has attracted increasing interest over recent decades, particularly given the potential role of gravity in addressing the measurement problem. We report on strong experimental constraints on a broad class of spontaneous collapse models, obtained by searching for a predicted side effect of the collapse mechanism: a faint spontaneous radiation emission by charged particles. We also discuss non-Markovian generalizations of these models, their impact on predicted radiation rates, and the corresponding experimental implications. Recent studies suggest that violations of the PEP may arise from space-time non-commutativity, a feature shared by several models of Quantum Gravity. X-ray surveys searching for atomic transitions forbidden by the PEP offer powerful probes for detecting such effects, potentially revealing signatures of Quantum Gravity at unexpectedly high energy scales. First results of the experimental studies will be presented.
Biography:
Dr. Piscicchia’s research primarily focuses on the phenomenological investigation of dynamical wave function collapse, through both the theoretical modeling of the associated spontaneous radiation emission and the development of dedicated experiments. His work also explores Quantum Gravity (QG) models, particularly via the experimental study of QG-induced deformations of spin–statistics. He developed the first methodology capable of identifying the mechanism responsible for the spontaneous quantum decoherence process. At the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Dr. Piscicchia serves as the principal investigator of the Violation of the Pauli Exclusion Principle (VIP) experiment at the Gran Sasso Underground National Laboratory. At the Enrico Fermi Research Center in Rome, he leads the project Open Problems in Quantum Mechanics. In addition, part of his research is devoted to the investigation of hadronic nuclear physics in the strangeness sector, where he is responsible for data analysis within the AMADEUS experiment at the Frascati National Laboratories.
Alternative online link： https://meeting.tencent.com/dm/dL8AEV94gBlJ
ID:171843280