Experiments on the Violation of Electromagnetic Gauge Symmetry by Yang-Mills Gravity Using Josephson Effects in Superconductors

Abstract

Yang-Mills gravity is a quantum theory of gravity with translational gauge symmetry that is based on a flat space-time. The universal coupling of all quantum fields to quantum Yang-Mills gravity is based on the replacement of $\partial_\mu$ by the translational gauge covariant derivative $(\partial_\mu +g\phi_\mu^\nu \partial_\nu)$ in the Lagrangians of non-gravitational fields. Near the surface of the Earth, Yang-Mills gravity causes the phase gradient $\partial_k \theta$ to be altered by a factor of $h_1\approx(1- g\phi)\approx 1- 7\times 10^{-10}$. In addition, the usual gauge-invariant combination of phase gradients and vector potentials ${\bf A}$ in Josephson junctions is modified and is no longer gauge invariant. The voltage across a Josephson junction is thus affected by the presence of the gravitational coupling constant $g$, and is now given by $V_{g21}\approx Q \int_1^2 [- \mbox{\boldmath$ {\bf \nabla}$} A_0 - h_1^{-2}{\partial {\bf A}}/{\partial t}]\cdot d{\bf s}$. We propose an experimental test of Yang-Mills gravity based on this effect. If one were to compare the voltage across a Josephson junction in a laboratory at rest on Earth with that across a junction in free fall (e.g., in the International Space Station or in a plane maneuvering to simulate zero-gravity such as NASA's now-retired "Vomit Comet"), Yang-Mills gravity predicts a difference on the order of 1 part in $10^{9}$, which should be detectable as the precision of the Josephson junction voltage standard is on the order of a few parts in $10^{10}$.