If detected, would hypothetical gravitational Casimir effects prove gravity quantization?

Abstract

Two parallel plane, perfectly conducting mirrors attract each other because of boundary effects on fluctuations of the electromagnetic field -the well-known Casimir force. It was suggested that, if superconducting thin films behave as ideal gravitational wave reflectors, two such surfaces separated by a gap must analogously experience a gravitational Casimir force. Recently, calculation attempts were reported showing that the magnitude of such interaction might exceed that of the electrodynamical Casimir force by as much as one order of magnitude and it was also stated that confirmation of the existence of such an interaction would provide inescapable proof of the existence of gravitons. In this paper, we discuss both some logical and numerical inconsistencies of that proposal as well as some exciting new opportunities.

Gravitational Dispersion Forces and Gravity Quantization

“…On the one hand, the macroscopic scale results [129,130] have stimulated a justifiably lively debate as to whether a hypothetical detection of such a gravitational Casimir effect would in fact represent a conclusive confirmation of the quantum nature of spacetime [22,60,[135][136][137][138]. On the other hand, the microscopic scale calculations have been accompanied by a unanimous consensus on the part of those who carried them out that any experimental confirmation of those predictions would reveal a signature of the quantum nature of the gravitational field.…”