原子分子体系的引力效应

寻找完整的量子引力理论是目前理论物理中的前沿热点问题之一,而黑洞热力学和量子干涉仪探测引力效应被认为是正在形成的量子引力理论的两个重要的"实验区".前者通过将量子概念引入到广义相对论来检验二者如何结合,特别是量子力学幺正性将在这两个理论的结合中经受严峻考验;而后者通过量子系统在引力场背景中的演化来试验引力对系统量子属性的影响,在这一方面广义相对论等效原理在微观粒子领域将接受越来越严格的实验检验.目前,原子分子物理实验中出现了类似黑洞辐射的现象,然而,这些现象出现的理论机制还不是非常明确,究竟能否用目前已有的理论解释,或者还是需要构建新的理论来解释也是不清楚的,但是无论如何,这些现象的出现为实验研究量子引力理论打开了一扇窗户.另一方面,人们已经使用量子系统测量一些弱引力效应,这不仅为研究引力对量子系统的影响提供了便利条件,也为研究二者结合提供了一个好的突破口.本综述将结合我们近几年的工作,围绕原子分子体系中的强引力和弱引力效应来介绍和讨论这些问题.

Gravitational effects of atomic and molecular systems

Finding the complete quantum gravity theory is the most important and frontal subject in theoretical physics, and the black hole thermodynamics and using quantum interferometer to test gravitational effect are considered as two significant ＂probing fields＂ for the coming quantum gravity theory. The two fields represent two respective ends of modem research into quantum gravity： one introduces quantum mechanics into a gravitational system, while the other attempts to incorporate gravity with a quantum system through observing the evolution of the quantum system in the gravitational background. For the former, the unitarity of quantum mechanics will meet a great challenge, while for the latter, the equivalence principle of general relativity will be probed more and more rigorously in experiments done with microscopical particles. Now the Hawking radiation of black holes has been found in the atomic, molecular and optic experiments, but its mechanism is unclear. In particular, whether the phenomenon could be explained within the current theories or needs the new physics is also unclear. However, it is very significant to get insight into some possible elements about quantum gravity through these experiments. On the other hand, the gravitational effects can be measured by quantum systems, which provides not only the convenience to study the influence of gravitational effects on quantum systems, but also a possible entrance to study the incorporation of quantum mechanics and gravity. In the review, we will discuss all these based on the interdiscipline of atom-molecule-optics and gravity, and our recent works related to the incorporation of quantum mechanics and gravity.