2020/10/16 by Maulik Parikh, Frank Wilczek, George Zahariade · 3 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Classical mechanics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Field (mathematics) #Gravitation #Gravitational field #Gravitational redshift #Gravitational wave #Linearized gravity #Mathematics #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Observable #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Quantization (signal processing) #Quantum #Quantum gravity #Quantum mechanics #Speed of gravity #gr-qc #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.127.081602
published in Physical Review Letters 127(8), 081602 (American Physical Society) · 5 pages + 3 pages of supplemental material, 2 figures
arxiv created 2020/10/16 · openalex publication_date 2021/08/19 · arxiv updated 2021/08/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
For the purpose of analyzing observed phenomena, it has been convenient, and thus far sufficient, to regard gravity as subject to the deterministic principles of classical physics, with the gravitational field obeying Newton's law or Einstein's equations. Here we treat the gravitational field as a quantum field and determine the implications of such treatment for experimental observables. We find that falling bodies in gravity are subject to random fluctuations ("noise") whose characteristics depend on the quantum state of the gravitational field. We derive a stochastic equation for the separation of two falling particles. Detection of this fundamental noise, which may be measurable at gravitational wave detectors, would vindicate the quantization of gravity, and reveal important properties of its sources.