Testing Quantum Gravity with Accelerators

o figure out how the smoothness of gravity can coexist with the intrinsically grainy world predicted by quantum field theory, physicists have to be able to explore physical phenomena at extremely short distances. According to Vahagn Gharibyan, a scientist working at the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY), the tools to make these measurements exist, or soon will. He proposes that subtle changes to the refraction of light, predicted by certain theories of quantum gravity, could be measured using lasers and the relativistic electrons generated at high-energy electron accelerators.