Investigation on Planck scale physics by the AURIGA gravitational bar detector

Abstract

We have recently shown that the very low mechanical energy achieved and measured in the main vibration mode of gravitational wave bar detectors can set an upper limit to possible modifications of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle that are expected as an effect of gravity. Here we give more details on the data analysis procedure that allows one to deduce the energy of the bar mode (i.e., the meaningful parameter for our purpose). Furthermore, we extend the analysis of our results, discussing their implication for physical models that face quantum gravity from different points of view, e.g., proposing modified commutation relations or exploring spacetime discreteness.

Keywords

• Planck scale
• generalized uncertainty principle
• gravitational bar detector