About the Minimal Resolution of Space-Time Grains in Experimental Quantum Gravity

Abstract

We critically analyse and compare various recent thought experiments, performed by Amelino-Camelia, Ng et al., Baez et al., Adler et al., and ourselves, concerning the (thought)experimental accessibility of the Planck scale by space-time measurements. We show that a closer inspection of the working of the measuring devices, by taking their microscopic quantum many-body nature in due account, leads to deeper insights concerning the extreme limits of the precision of space-time measurements. Among other things, we show how certain constraints like e.g. the Schwarzschild constraint can be circumvented and that quantum fluctuations being present in the measuring devices can be reduced by designing more intelligent measuring instruments. Consequences for various phenomenological quantum gravity models are discussed.