2002/06/12 by Pieter Kok, Ulvi Yurtsever, Kok, Pieter +5
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/0206082
4 pages, 1 figure REVTeX
arxiv created 2002/06/12 · openalex publication_date 2002/06/12 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Simultaneity is a well-defined notion in special relativity once a Minkowski metric structure is fixed on the spacetime continuum (manifold) of events. In quantum gravity, however, the metric is not expected to be a fixed, classical structure, but a fluctuating quantum operator which may assume a coherent superposition of two classically-distinguishable values. A natural question to ask is what happens to the notion of simultaneity and synchronization when the metric is in a quantum superposition. Here we show that the resource of distributed entanglement of the same kind as used by Jozsa et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2010 (2000)] gives rise to an experimental probe that is sensitive to coherent quantum fluctuations in the spacetime metric.