English

Quantum-classical hypothesis tests in macroscopic matter-wave interferometry

Quantum Physics 2020-07-14 v2

Abstract

We assess the most macroscopic matter-wave experiments to date as to the extent to which they probe the quantum-classical boundary by demonstrating interference of heavy molecules and cold atomic ensembles. To this end, we consider a rigorous Bayesian test protocol for a parametrized set of hypothetical modifications of quantum theory, including well-studied spontaneous collapse models, that destroy superpositions and reinstate macrorealism. The range of modification parameters ruled out by the measurement events quantifies the macroscopicity of a quantum experiment, while the shape of the posterior distribution resulting from the Bayesian update reveals how conclusive the data are at testing macrorealism. This protocol may serve as a guide for the design of future matter-wave experiments ever closer to truly macroscopic scales.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2004.03392,
  title  = {Quantum-classical hypothesis tests in macroscopic matter-wave interferometry},
  author = {Björn Schrinski and Stefan Nimmrichter and Klaus Hornberger},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.03392},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

13 pages, 9 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-23T14:42:51.219Z