When Cavendish meets Feynman: A quantum torsion balance for testing the quantumness of gravity
Abstract
We propose a thought experiment, based on a mechanism that is reminiscent of Cavendish's torsion balance, to investigate the possible quantum nature of the gravitational field generated by the quantum superposition state of a massive system. Our proposal makes use of the dynamics of a ultra-stable optically levitated nanomechanical rotor endowed with a spin to generate a quantum angular superposition that is then tested through standard Ramsey-like scheme. Gravity manifests itself as an effective decoherence mechanism, whose strength is different-and, as we show, appreciable-in the classical and quantum case. By incorporating both the source for decoherence and the mechanism to probe it, the experiment that we propose allows for a much reduced degree of control and dynamical engineering.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1710.08695,
title = {When Cavendish meets Feynman: A quantum torsion balance for testing the quantumness of gravity},
author = {Matteo Carlesso and Mauro Paternostro and Hendrik Ulbricht and Angelo Bassi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1710.08695},
year = {2017}
}