We show that, by treating the gravitational interaction between two mechanical resonators as a classical measurement channel, a gravitational decoherence model results that is equivalent to a model first proposed by Diosi. The resulting decoherence model implies that the classically mediated gravitational interaction between two gravitationally coupled resonators cannot create entanglement. The gravitational decoherence rate (and the complementary heating rate) is of the order of the gravitationally induced normal mode splitting of the two resonators. Failure to see this in an experiment would rule out treating gravitational interactions as purely classical.
We show that, by treating the gravitational interaction between two mechanical resonators as a classical measurement channel, a gravitational decoherence model results that is equivalent to a model first proposed by Diosi. The resulting decoherence model implies that the classically mediated gravitational interaction between two gravitationally coupled resonators cannot create entanglement. The gravitational decoherence rate (and the complementary heating rate) is of the order of the gravitationally induced normal mode splitting of the two resonators. Failure to see this in an experiment would rule out treating gravitational interactions as purely classical.
The notion of time is given a different footing in quantum mechanics and general relativity, treated as a parameter in the former and being an observer-dependent property in the latter. From an operational point of view time is simply the correlation between a system and a clock, where an idealized clock can be modeled as a two-level system. We investigate the dynamics of clocks interacting gravitationally by treating the gravitational interaction as a classical information channel. This model, known as the classical-channel gravity (CCG), postulates that gravity is mediated by a fundamentally classical force carrier and is therefore unable to entangle particles gravitationally. In particular, we focus on the decoherence rates and temporal resolution of arrays of N clocks, showing how the minimum dephasing rate scales with N, and the spatial configuration. Furthermore, we consider the gravitational redshift between a clock and a massive particle and show that a classical-channel model of gravity predicts a finite-dephasing rate from the nonlocal interaction. In our model we obtain a fundamental limitation in time accuracy that is intrinsic to each clock.
This note studies the role of a quantum mediator in gravitationally induced entanglement and decoherence using an exactly solvable dynamical mediator model. Two masses in spatial superposition interact through a mediator mode described by a displaced-oscillator Hamiltonian. The model provides a unified description of two regimes: when the mediator returns to its original state, it leaves behind pure entanglement between the masses through virtual excitation; when the mediator carries which-path information, it becomes a physical record that reduces coherence and suppresses entanglement. The work proves an exact record–decoherence relation: the loss of coherence of each subsystem equals the information stored in the rest of the universe, combining entanglement generation and decoherence into a single information budget. The paper also establishes a classical-channel dichotomy. A measure-and-feedforward channel calibrated to reproduce the same interaction produces no entanglement, while introducing additional noise. This provides an exact solvable distinction between a genuinely quantum mediator and a classical communication channel. The causal structure of mediation is studied in a multi-mode chain, where entanglement appears only after the mediator excitation reaches the relevant region, establishing a finite propagation constraint in the model. The work also proves analytically the separability boundary for partially coherent sources, including the condition relating source coherences required for entanglement generation. The results provide an exactly solvable framework connecting gravitationally induced entanglement, mediator quantum information, which-path records, decoherence, and quantum versus classical mediation. The declared limits are finite models, linear mediator coupling, and no claim of a complete theory of dynamical quantum gravity. Verification and reproducibility materials are included.
We consider two interacting systems when one is treated classically while the other system remains quantum. Consistent dynamics of this coupling has been shown to exist, and explored in the context of treating space-time classically. Here, we prove that such hybrid dynamics necessarily results in decoherence of the quantum system, and a breakdown in predictability in the classical phase space. We further prove that a trade-off between the rate of this decoherence and the degree of diffusion induced in the classical system is a general feature of all classical quantum dynamics; long coherence times require strong diffusion in phase-space relative to the strength of the coupling. Applying the trade-off relation to gravity, we find a relationship between the strength of gravitationally-induced decoherence versus diffusion of the metric and its conjugate momenta. This provides an experimental signature of theories in which gravity is fundamentally classical. Bounds on decoherence rates arising from current interferometry experiments, combined with precision measurements of mass, place significant restrictions on theories where Einstein's classical theory of gravity interacts with quantum matter. We find that part of the parameter space of such theories are already squeezed out, and provide figures of merit which can be used in future mass measurements and interference experiments.
We consider two interacting systems when one is treated classically while the other system remains quantum. Consistent dynamics of this coupling has been shown to exist, and explored in the context of treating space-time classically. Here, we prove that any such hybrid dynamics necessarily results in decoherence of the quantum system, and a breakdown in predictability in the classical phase space. We further prove that a trade-off between the rate of this decoherence and the degree of diffusion induced in the classical system is a general feature of all classical quantum dynamics; long coherence times require strong diffusion in phase-space relative to the strength of the coupling. Applying the trade-off relation to gravity, we find a relationship between the strength of gravitationally-induced decoherence versus diffusion of the metric and its conjugate momenta. This provides an experimental signature of theories in which gravity is fundamentally classical. Bounds on decoherence rates arising from current interferometry experiments, combined with precision measurements of mass, place significant restrictions on theories where Einstein's classical theory of gravity interacts with quantum matter. We find that part of the parameter space of such theories are already squeezed out, and provide figures of merit which can be used in future mass measurements and interference experiments.
We propose an experiment to test the non-classicality of the gravitational interaction. We consider two optomechanical systems that are perfectly isolated, except for a weak gravitational coupling. If a suitable resonance condition is satisfied, an optical signal can be transmitted from one system to the other over a narrow frequency band, a phenomenon that we call gravitationally induced transparency. In this framework, the challenging problem of testing the quantum nature of gravity is mapped to the easier task of determining the non-classicality of the gravitationally-induced optical channel: If the optical channel is not entanglement-breaking, then gravity must have a quantum nature. This approach is applicable without making any assumption on the, currently unknown, correct model of gravity in the quantum regime. In the second part of this work, we model gravity as a quadratic Hamiltonian interaction (e.g. a weak Newtonian force), resulting in a Gaussian thermal attenuator channel between the two systems. Depending on the strength of thermal noise, the system presents a sharp transition from an entanglement-breaking to a non-classical channel capable not only of entanglement preservation but also of asymptotically perfect quantum communication.
We show that the dynamics of the Diósi-Penrose (DP) model of classical gravity can entangle the mechanical degrees of freedom of two separate particles. For standard experiments of gravitationally induced entanglement (GIE), we find that entanglement can be generated if and only if the particles are separated by a distance smaller than some limiting value d c , proportional to the only free parameter of the DP model. Greater distances can be achieved through new experimental configurations, where the initial wave functions of the particles are allowed to spread perpendicularly to the separation axis. Although the DP dynamics asymptotically drives the system to a separable state, we observe that, for reasonable experimental parameters, GIE can survive for more than a day. Our results therefore imply that GIE detection is not enough to validate quantum gravity. Experimental tests of GIE dynamics have nonetheless the potential to falsify the DP model.