Related papers: Not all black holes decohere quantum superposition…
Bekenstein has put forward the idea that, in a quantum theory of gravity, a black hole should have a discrete energy spectrum with concomitant discrete line emission. The quantized black-hole radiation spectrum is expected to be very…
The problem of electron decoherence at low temperature is analyzed from the perspective of recent experiments on decoherence rate measurement and on related localization phenomena in low-dimensional systems. Importance of decoherence at…
Schemes of gravitationally induced decoherence are being actively investigated as possible mechanisms for the quantum-to-classical transition. Here, we introduce a decoherence process due to quantum gravity effects. We assume a foamy…
Any quantum system interacting with a complex environment undergoes decoherence. Empty space is filled with vacuum energy due to matter fields in their ground state and represents an underlying environment that any quantum particle has to…
It is argued that in certain 2d dilaton gravity theories there exist self-consistent solutions of field equations with quantum terms which describe extreme black holes at nonzero temperature. The curvature remains finite on the horizon due…
Quantum-gravity effects in black holes are generally expected to be unobservable if they set in at transplanckian curvature scales. Here, we challenge this expectation. A near-critical spin parameter can serve as a lever arm that translates…
We propose a new method to account for quantum-gravitational effects in cosmological and black hole spacetimes. At the core of our construction is the "decoupling mechanism": when a physical infrared scale overcomes the effect of the…
Preparing and detecting spatially extended quantum superpositions of a massive object comprises an important fundamental test of quantum theory. These quantum states are extremely fragile and tend to quickly decay into incoherent mixtures…
It has recently been suggested that black holes may be described as condensates of weakly interacting gravitons at a critical point, exhibiting strong quantum effects. In this paper, we study a model system of attractive bosons in one…
Real world quantum systems are open to perpetual influence from the wider environment. Quantum gravitational fluctuations provide a most fundamental source of the environmental influence through their universal interactions with all forms…
Bringing gravity into a quantum-mechanical framework is likely the most profound remaining problem in fundamental physics. The "unitarity crisis" for black hole evolution appears to be a key facet of this problem, whose resolution will…
While extreme black hole spacetimes with smooth horizons are known at the level of mathematics, we argue that the horizons of physical extreme black holes are effectively singular. Test particles encounter a singularity the moment they…
We have found an exact expression for the decoherence rate of a Josephson charge qubit coupled to fluctuating background charges. At low temperatures $T$ the decoherence rate ${\Gamma}$ is linear in $T$ while at high temperatures it…
An increasing number of papers have appeared in recent years on decoherence in quantum gravity at the Planck energy. We discuss the meaning of decoherence in quantum gravity starting from the common notion that quantum gravity is a theory…
Black holes behave as thermodynamic systems, and a central task of any quantum theory of gravity is to explain these thermal properties. A statistical mechanical description of black hole entropy once seemed remote, but today we suffer an…
A decoherence mechanism caused by spacetime curvature is discussed. The spin state of a particle is shown to decohere if only the particle moves in a curved spacetime. In particular, when a particle is near the event horizon of a black…
In this essay we argue that once quantum gravitational effects change the classical geometry of a black hole and remove the curvature singularity, the black hole would not evaporate entirely but approach a remnant. In a modified…
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…
Searches for gravitational wave echoes in the aftermath of mergers and/or formation of astrophysical black holes have recently opened a novel and surprising window into the quantum nature of their horizons. Similar to astro- and…
We present a simple calculation leading to the quantum gravitationally-induced decoherence of a spatial superposition of a massive object in the linear coupling regime. The point of this calculation is to illustrate that the…