A new uncertainty principle near the Planck scale and its implications - Saurya Das

Most approaches to Quantum Gravity and Black Hole Physics suggest some modification of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle near the Planck energy scale to a so-called Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP). We propose a GUP consistent with all such approaches, and show that it predicts a minimum observable length and a maximum observable momentum. We also show that it gives rise to a new term in all quantum mechanical Hamiltonians, which can have measurable signatures in various low energy systems, such as in condensed matter and atomic physics. Further, it also indicates a breakdown of the continuum nature of spacetime near the Planck scale, giving way to an intrinsically discrete structure. We ask whether such discreteness can have experimental signatures at observable length scales.