In light of the kicking off of the QuCoM activities in Trieste, Dr. Matteo Carlesso has been invited to deliver a serie of seminars on optomechanics applied to fundamental tests of Quantum Mechanics to the Trieste group. Part of the tasks of the group are to devise novel experimental schemes for exploring the quantum-gravity interplay and  for testing alternative models which try to combine the two theories. Optomechanics, at the core of QuCoM, is among the most promising platforms for such tests

Partners have met on October 14, 2022 for the kick off meeting of the project. Local PIs and teams members were present. The meeting was chaired by Angelo Bassi, PI of QuCoM, who has given a presentation on general facts of the project, work plan, main objectives, structure of the management team, deliverables, milestones, effort, risks, plan for reviews. Hendrik Ulbricht (Southampton) has presented the experimental work to be done while Mauro Paternostro (Queen’s Belfast) has given an overview of the theoretical work to be done. Followed a scientific discussion on the presentations and a Steering Committee Meeting.

The experimental partners of the QuCoM project have been meeting on a regular basis every second Tuesday of the month since the beginning of the project to update on developments of performing magnetic levitation experiments (materials, dimensions, magnetic shielding), design of two-mass gravity experiments, vibration isolation, data acquisition and analysis (electronics, lock-ins), tabulation of trapping parameters to compare different experiments. The agendas of the meetings were roughly as follows: 10:00 Update on ULEI experiments 10:30 Update on UoS experiments 11:00 General discussion about next steps and ideas