QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

We propose to apply Ramsey’s method of separated oscillating fields to the spectroscopy of the quantum states in the gravity potential above a vertical mirror. This method allows a precise measurementof quantum mechanical phaseshifts of a Schr¨odinger wave packet bouncing off a hardsurface in the gravitational field of the earth. Measurements with ultra-cold neutrons will offer asensitivity to Newton’s law or hypothetical short-ranged interactions, which is about 21 orders of magnitude below the energy scale of electromagnetism.