2019/06/11 by M Carlesso, Matteo Carlesso, A Bassi +5 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Field (mathematics) #Gravitation #Gravitational field #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Quantum #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum decoherence #Quantum gravity #Quantum metrology #Quantum superposition #Superposition principle #gr-qc #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1367-2630/ab41c1
published as New J. Phys. 21 093052 (2019) · This manuscript supersedes arXiv:1507.05733, upon which it builds. However. we decided to leave the latter on the arXiv in light of its own merits
arxiv created 2019/06/11 · openalex created_date 2019/06/27 · openalex publication_date 2019/09/01 · arxiv updated 2019/09/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract 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 in the fact that gravity is weak and requires large masses to be detectable. However, it becomes increasingly difficult to generate spatial quantum superpositions for increasingly large masses, in light of the stronger environmental effects on such systems. Clearly, a delicate balance between the need for strong gravitational effects and weak decoherence should be found. We show that such a trade off could be achieved in an optomechanics scenario that allows to witness whether the gravitational field generated by a quantum system in a spatial superposition is in a coherent superposition or not. We estimate the magnitude of the effect and show that it offers perspectives for observability.