Related papers: Gravitational waves decohere quantum superposition…
We consider a quantum harmonic oscillator coupled with a graviton bath and discuss the loss of coherence in the matter sector due to the matter-graviton vertex interaction. Working in the quantum-field-theory framework, we obtain a master…
Quantum mechanics and the theory of gravity are presently not compatible. A particular question is whether gravity causes decoherence - an unavoidable source of noise. Several models for gravitational decoherence have been proposed, not all…
One of the biggest problems faced by those attempting to combine quantum theory and general relativity is the experimental inaccessibility of the unification scale. In this paper we show how incoherent conformal waves in the gravitational…
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.…
Despite the fact that we have some proposals for the quantum theory of gravity like string theory or loop quantum gravity, we do not have any experimental evidence supporting any of these theories. Actually, we do not have experimental…
We discuss the quantum mechanical description of a gravitational wave interacting with a cavity electromagnetic field. Quantum fluctuations of the gravitational vacuum induce squeezing in the optical field. Moreover, this squeezing…
We discuss the interplay of wave packet decoherence and decoherence induced by quantum gravity via interactions with spacetime foam for high energy astrophysical neutrinos. In this context we point out a compelling consequence of the…
We analyse a decoherence effect, caused by the gravitational interaction between a massive body and the electromagnetic field. Assuming a quantum version of the light bending interaction, we show that it leads to decoherence of the mass if…
We study the superposition of primordial massive particles and compute the associated decoherence time scale in the radiation dominated universe. We observe that for lighter primordial particles with masses up to $10^7\,\rm{kg}$, the…
Among the many worthwhile quantum experiments taking advantage of long baselines in space, this white paper points to the far-reaching significance of gravitational decoherence experiments. These experiments can provide clues as to whether…
The quite different behaviors exhibited by microscopic and macroscopic systems with respect to quantum interferences suggest that there may exist a naturally frontier between quantum and classical worlds. The value of the Planck mass…
We present a general master equation for the quantum dynamics of a scalar bosonic particle interacting with an external weak and stochastic gravitational field. The dynamics predicts decoherence in position as well as in momentum. We show…
It is univocally anticipated that in a theory of quantum gravity, there exist quantum superpositions of semiclassical states of spacetime geometry. Such states could arise for example, from a source mass in a superposition of spatial…
We investigate the interplay between gravity and the quantum coherence present in the state of a pulse of light propagating in curved spacetime. We first introduce an operational way to distinguish between the overall shift in the pulse…
We give a first principles derivation of a master equation for the evolution of a quantum matter field in a linearly perturbed Minkowski spacetime, based solely on quantum field theory and general relativity. We make no additional…
We explore the impact of strong gravitational fields on neutrino decoherence. To this aim, we employ the density matrix formalism to describe the propagation of neutrino wave packets in curved spacetime. By considering Gaussian wave…
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…
Recently, a static gravitational field, such as that of the Earth, was proposed as a new source of decoherence [1]. We study the conditions under which it becomes the dominant decoherence effect in typical interferometric experiments. The…
Gravitational waves (GWs) produce small distortions in the observable distribution of stars in the sky. We describe the characteristic pattern of astrometric deflections created by a specific gravitational waveform called a burst with…
What gravitational field is generated by a massive quantum system in a spatial superposition? Despite decades of intensive theoretical and experimental research, we still do not know the answer. On the experimental side, the difficulty lies…