Table-top test targets quantum foam Nov 29, 2012 15 comments One
of the biggest challenges in physics – finding evidence for
quantum gravity – could be tackled using a simple table-top
experiment, according to Jacob Bekenstein from the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem. Bekenstein, who is best known for
studying the thermal properties of black holes, has come up with
an interesting new proposal for using single photons to probe
what is known as "quantum foam". The foam, which was introduced
in 1955 by the US physicist John Wheeler, is believed to exist
on length scales so small that quantum fluctuations affect
space–time. Bekenstein's proposal is the latest effort in the
quest to understand how quantum mechanics can be unified with
Einstein's general theory of relativity – a problem that has
eluded physicists since they first began to understand the
quantum and relativistic worlds in the early 20th century. One
of the main reasons why physicists have struggled with
developing a theory of quantum gravity is a com