Related papers: Wave optics of quantum gravity for massive particl…
The (large-scale) structures we observe in the Universe are classical, but within the inflationary scenario they do originate from quantum fluctuations. This leads to the question: ''How did this quantum-to-classical transition occur?''. A…
This paper investigates the decoherence effect resulting from the interaction of squeezed gravitational waves with a system of massive particles in spatial superposition. This paper investigates the decoherence effect resulting from the…
Gravitational waves are propagating undulations in the spacetime fabric, which interact very weakly with their environment. In cosmology, gravitational-wave distortions are produced by most of the inflationary scenarios and their…
A quantum measurement-like event can produce any of a number of macroscopically distinct results, with corresponding macroscopically distinct gravitational fields, from the same initial state. Hence the probabilistically evolving…
There has been considerable interest over the past years in investigating the role of gravity in quantum phenomenon such as entanglement and decoherence. In particular, gravitational time dilation is believed to decohere superpositions of…
The quantum nature of gravity remains an open question in fundamental physics, lacking experimental verification. Gravitational waves (GWs) provide a potential avenue for detecting gravitons, the hypothetical quantum carriers of gravity.…
We consider the nonunitary quantum dynamics of neutral massless scalar particles used to model photons around a massive gravitational lens. The gravitational interaction between the lensing mass and asymptotically free particles is…
It was previously argued that the phenomenon of quantum gravitational decoherence described by the Wheeler-DeWitt equation is responsible for the emergence of the arrow of time. Here we show that the characteristic spatio-temporal scales of…
Quantum fluctuations in the background geometry of a black hole are shown to affect the propagation of matter states falling into the black hole in a foliation that corresponds to observations purely outside the horizon. A state that starts…
The literature on quantum-gravity-inspired scenarios for the quantization of spacetime has so far focused on particle-physics-like studies. This is partly justified by the present limitations of our understanding of quantum-gravity…
The gravitational wave equation of motion includes direct coupling to the Riemann tensor. The curvature terms are usually neglected, but they can be large at the location of matter particles and impact the angular diameter distance. We…
We develop a general framework for the open dynamics of an ensemble of quantum particles subject to spacetime fluctuations about the flat background. An arbitrary number of interacting bosonic and fermionic particles are considered. A…
It is well known that in quantum gravity, the very geometry of space and time is subject to continual fluctuation. The mathematical formulation for this old theory is still lacking. This article formulates this more than forty-year-old…
Quantum gravitational effects may induce stochastic fluctuations in the structure of space-time, to produce a characteristic foamy structure. It has been known for some time now that these fluctuations may have observable consequences for…
We investigate the meaning of gravity-induced decoherence in quantum theory, known as `intrinsic' or `fundamental' decoherence in the literature. We explore a range of issues relevant to this problem, including the meaning of modified…
We study the effect of the scattering of gravitational waves on planetary motions, say the motion of the Moon around the Earth. Though this effect has a negligible influence on dissipation, it dominates fluctuations and the associated…
We consider a composite particle, whose internal degrees of freedom are described by quantum mechanics, interacting with the quantum gravitational field in the linear approximation. Dechorence induced by the quantum fluctuations of the…
We investigate the influence of a gravitational wave background on particles in circular motion. We are especially interested in waves leading to stationary orbits. This consideration is limited to circular orbits perpendicular to the…
The interaction of a particle with vacuum fluctuations--which theoretically exist even in the complete absence of matter--can lead to observable irreversible decoherence if it were possible to switch on and off the particle charge suddenly.…
A satisfactory theory of quantum gravity may necessitate a drastic modification of our perception of space-time, by giving it a foamy structure at distances comparable to the Planck length. It is argued in this essay that the experimental…