Phenomenological quantum gravity is a research field in theoretical physics and a subfield of quantum gravity. Its objective is to find observable evidence for the quantization of gravity by the development of phenomenological models. These phenomenological models quantify possible quantum gravitational effects and can ideally be tested experimentally. In many cases predicted effects are too small to be measureable with presently available technology, but examples exist of models that have been ruled out already and others that can be tested in the near future.

The relevance of this research area derives from the fact that presently none of the candidate theories for quantum gravity has made contact to experiment. Phenomenological models are designed to bridge this gap by allowing physicists to test for general properties that the to-be-found theory of quantum gravity has. Even negative results are thus useful guides to the development of the theory by excluding possible properties. Phenomenological models are also necessary to assess the promise of future experiments.

References

• Amelino-Camelia, Giovanni (2008). “Quantum Gravity Phenomenology”. arXiv.
• Hossenfelder, Sabine (2010). “Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity”. arXiv.