A relativistic version of the Schr{ö}dinger-Newton equation is analyzed within the recently proposed Grave de Peralta approach [L. Grave de Peralta, {\em Results Phys.} {\bf 18} (2020) 103318], which include relativistic effects by a parametrization of the non-relativistic hamiltonian, so as to impose that the average kinetic energy of the system coincide with its relativistic kinetic energy. The reliability of this method is tested for the particle in a box. By applying this method to the Schr{ö}dinger-Newton equation we shows that the characteristic length of the model [L. Di{ó}si, {\em Phys. Lett}. {\bf 105A} (1984) 199] goes to zero for a mass of the order of the Planck mass, suggesting a collapse of the wavefuncton, induced by gravity.
A relativistic version of the Schr{ö}dinger-Newton equation is analyzed within the recently proposed Grave de Peralta approach [L. Grave de Peralta, {\em Results Phys.} {\bf 18} (2020) 103318], which include relativistic effects by a parametrization of the non-relativistic hamiltonian, so as to impose that the average kinetic energy of the system coincide with its relativistic kinetic energy. The reliability of this method is tested for the particle in a box. By applying this method to the Schr{ö}dinger-Newton equation we shows that the characteristic length of the model [L. Di{ó}si, {\em Phys. Lett}. {\bf 105A} (1984) 199] goes to zero for a mass of the order of the Planck mass, suggesting a collapse of the wavefuncton, induced by gravity.
The Di{ó}si-Penrose model is explored in a relativistic context. Relativistic effects were considered within a recently proposed Grave de Peralta approach [L. Grave de Peralta, {\em Results Phys.} {\bf 18} (2020) 103318], which parametrize the Schr{ö}dinger-like hamiltonian so as to impose that the average kinetic energy of the system coincide with its relativistic kinetic energy. As a case of study, the method is applied to a particle in a box with good results. In the Di{ó}si-Penrose model we observed that the width of a quantum matter field confined by its own gravitational field [L. Di{ó}si, {\em Phys. Lett}. {\bf 105A} (1984) 199], sharply drop to zero for a mass of the order of the Planck mass, indicating a breakdown of the model at the Planck scale.
The Schr\"odinger-Newton model describes self-gravitating quantum particles, and it is often cited to explain the gravitational collapse of the wave function and the localization of macroscopic objects. However, this model is completely nonrelativistic. Thus, in order to study whether the relativistic effects may spoil the properties of this system, we derive a modification of the Schr\"odinger-Newton equation by considering certain relativistic corrections up to the first post-Newtonian order. The construction of the model begins by considering the Hamiltonian of a relativistic particle propagating on a curved background. For simplicity, the background metric is assumed to be spherically symmetric, and it is then expanded up to the first post-Newtonian order. After performing the canonical quantization of the system, and following the usual interpretation, the square of the module of the wave function defines a mass distribution, which in turn is the source of the Poisson equation for the gravitational potential. As in the nonrelativistic case, this construction couples the Poisson and the Schr\"odinger equations and leads to a complicated nonlinear system. Hence, the dynamics of an initial Gaussian wave packet is then numerically analyzed. We observe that the natural dispersion of the wave function is slower than in the nonrelativistic case. Furthermore, for those cases that reach a final localized stationary state, the peak of the wave function happens to be located at a smaller radius. Therefore, the relativistic corrections effectively contribute to increase the self-gravitation of the particle and strengthen the validity of this model as an explanation for the gravitational localization of the wave function.
It has been suggested that the nonlinear Schrödinger–Newton equation might approximate the coupling of quantum mechanics with gravitation, particularly in the context of the Møller–Rosenfeld semiclassical theory. Numerical results for the spherically symmetric, time-dependent, single-particle case are presented, clarifying and extending previous work on the subject. It is found that, for a particle mass greater than 1.14(ℏ 2 /( G σ)) 1/3 , a wave packet of width σ partially 'collapses' to a groundstate solution found by Moroz, Penrose and Tod, with excess probability dispersing away. However, for a mass less than 1.14(ℏ 2 /( G σ)) 1/3 , the entire wave packet appears to spread like a free particle, albeit more slowly. It is argued that, on some scales (lower than the Planck scale), this theory predicts significant deviation from conventional (linear) quantum mechanics. However, owing to the difficulty of controlling quantum coherence on one hand, and the weakness of gravity on the other, definitive experimental falsification poses a technologically formidable challenge.
A new approach to wavefunction collapse is prepared by an analysis of semiclassical gravity. The fact that, in semiclassical gravity, superposed states must share a common classical spacetime geometry, even if they prefer (according to general relativity) differently curved spacetimes, leads to energy increases of the states, when their mass distributions are different. If one interprets these energy increases divided by Planck's constant as decay rates of the states, one obtains the lifetimes of superpositions according to the Diosi-Penrose criterion and reduction probabilities according to Born's rule. The derivation of Born's rule for two-state superpositions can be adapted to the typical quantum mechanical experiments with the help of a common property of these experiments. It is that they lead to never more than two different mass distributions at one location referring e.g. to the cases that a particle "is", or "is not", detected at the location. From the characteristic energy of the Diosi-Penrose criterion, an action is constructed whose relativistic generalisation becomes obvious by a decomposition of the Einstein-Hilbert action to the superposed states. In Part 2, semiclassical gravity is enhanced to the so-called Dynamical Spacetime approach to wavefunction collapse, which leads to a physical mechanism for collapse.
We propose an effective non-relativistic framework in which wave-function collapse emerges as a deterministic dynamical instability induced by gravitational self-interaction and regulated by short-distance repulsion. The dynamics is described by a nonlinear Schrödinger equation supplemented by a phenomenological repulsive sector ensuring regularity at high densities. Using a variational Gaussian ansatz, we derive an explicit effective energy functional and show that extended quantum states lose stability beyond a critical mass scale. This loss of stability is associated with a bifurcation in the reduced dynamical system governing the wave-function width, leading to the emergence of stable localized configurations. Within this picture, collapse corresponds to the dynamical selection of one of these localized attractors, driven by infinitesimal asymmetries in the initial state and occurring without stochastic noise or environmental coupling. The mechanism provides a controlled and quantitative realization of gravity-induced localization, extending Schrödinger--Newton-type models while avoiding their pathological short-distance behavior. Possible implications for mesoscopic systems probing the quantum-to-classical transition are briefly discussed.
Abstract We probe the dynamics of a modified form of the Schrödinger–Newton (SN) system of gravity coupled to single particle quantum mechanics. At the masses of interest here, the ones associated with the onset of ‘collapse’ (where the gravitational attraction is competitive with the quantum mechanical dissipation), we show that the Schrödinger ground state energies match the Dirac ones with an error of . At the Planck mass scale, we predict the critical mass at which a potential collapse could occur for the self-coupled gravitational case, Planck mass, and show that gravitational attraction opposes Gaussian spreading at around this value, which is a factor of two higher than the one predicted (and verified) for the SN system. Unlike the SN dynamics, we do not find that the self-coupled case tends to decay towards its ground state; there is no collapse in this case.