Related papers: Puzzling out the mass-superselection rule
Experiments are beginning to probe the interaction of quantum particles with gravitational fields beyond the uniform-field regime. In non-relativistic quantum mechanics, the gravitational field in such experiments can be written as a…
Physical superpositions exist both in classical and in quantum physics. However, what is exactly meant by 'superposition' in each case is extremely different. In this paper we discuss some of the multiple interpretations which exist in the…
It is assumed that the primary interaction between two masses m1 and m2 is not attractive as postulated by Newton's law of gravitation, but repulsive. Both m1 and m2 emit and absorb gravitational radiation. Corresponding to the laws of…
There are four reasons why our present knowledge and understanding of quantum mechanics could be regarded as incomplete. Firstly, the principle of linear superposition has not been experimentally tested for position eigenstates of objects…
Does the mass of bodies depend on their velocity? Is the mass additive if separate bodies are joined together to form a composite system? Is the mass of an isolated system conserved? Different teachers of physics and specialists give…
Clarifying the nature of the quantum state $|\Psi\rangle$ is at the root of the problems with insight into counter-intuitive quantum postulates. We provide a direct-and math-axiom free-empirical derivation of this object as an element of a…
The concept of a superposition is a revolutionary novelty introduced by Quantum Mechanics. If a system may be in any one of two pure states x and y, we must consider that it may also be in any one of many superpositions of x and y. An…
Quantum superposition states are behind many of the curious phenomena exhibited by quantum systems, including Bell non-locality, quantum interference, quantum computational speed-up, and the measurement problem. At the same time, many…
A critical analysis of the relativistic formulation of matter reveals some surprising inconsistencies and paradoxes. Corrections are discovered which lead to the long-sought-after equality of the gravitational and inertial masses, which are…
Whether quantum physics is universally valid is an open question with far-reaching implications. Intense research is therefore invested into testing the quantum superposition principle with ever heavier and more complex objects. Here we…
Every restriction on quantum operations defines a resource theory, determining how quantum states that cannot be prepared under the restriction may be manipulated and used to circumvent the restriction. A superselection rule is a…
The standard argument for the validity of Einstein's equivalence principle in a non-relativistic quantum context involves the application of a mass superselection rule. It is surprising that the consistency between such an important…
Doubly Special Relativity (DSR) theories consider (quantum-gravity motivated) deformations of the symmetries of special relativity compatible with a relativity principle. The existence of time delays for massless particles, one of their…
Semiclassical gravity, in which a classical spacetime is sourced by the quantum expectation value of the stress-energy tensor, is a standard framework for describing the gravitational interaction of quantum matter. In the nonrelativistic…
A ubiquitous feature of quantum mechanical theories is the existence of states of superposition. This is expected to be no different for a quantum gravity theory. Guided by this consideration and others we consider a framework in which…
In these lectures I describe some of the open questions in the standard model relating to the nature and origin of mass, forces and matter and discuss some of the speculative theoretical ideas put forth in this regard. Some of the topics…
We emphasize that a specific aspect of quantum gravity is the absence of a super-selection rule that prevents a linear superposition of different gravitational charges. As an immediate consequence, we obtain a tiny, but observable,…
One of the fundamental features of quantum mechanics is the superposition principle, a manifestation of which is embodied in quantum coherence. Coherence of a quantum state is invariably defined with respect to a preferred set of pointer…
Based on Newtonian dynamics, observations show that the luminous masses of astrophysical objects that are the size of a galaxy or larger are not enough to generate the measured motions which they supposedly determine. This is typically…
Superpositions of mass distributions can potentially lead to entanglement with the geometry of spacetime. Here we show that there exists a natural reluctance for macroscopic mass distributions to form such superpositions. The macroscopic…