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Random twists of place: How quiet is quantum space-time at the Planck scale?February 12, 2021 | Craig Hogan Fermilab scientists have been conducting experiments to look for quantum fluctuations of space and time at the smallest scale imaginable according to known physics. At this limit, the Planck length, our classical notions of space and time break down.Imagine the ratio of the size of the universe compared to a speck of dust. That’s about how big the speck of dust is compared to the Planck length, 10-33 centimeters. The Planck time is how long it takes light to travel that distance.Quantum...

Explanation: How different are space and time at very small scales? To explore the unfamiliar domain of the miniscule Planck scale -- where normally unnoticeable quantum effects might become dominant -- a newly developed instrument called the Fermilab Holometer has begun operating at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) near Chicago, Illinois, USA. The instrument seeks to determine if slight but simultaneous jiggles of a mirror in two directions expose a fundamental type of holographic noise that always exceeds a minimum amount. Pictured above is one of the end mirrors of a Holometer prototype. Although the discovery of holographic noise...