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arXiv:2210.16919 · Classical and Quantum Gravity

Gravitational decoherence by the apparatus in the quantum-gravity-induced entanglement of masses

Fabian Gunnink, Anupam Mazumdar, Martine Schut, Marko Toroš

Published Oct 18, 2023• 10 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract One of the outstanding questions in modern physics is how to test whether gravity is classical or quantum in a laboratory. Recently there has been a proposal to test the quantum nature of gravity by creating quantum superpositions of two nearby neutral masses, close enough that the quantum nature of gravity can entangle the two quantum systems, but still sufficiently far away that all other known Standard Model interactions remain negligible. However, preparing superposition states of a neutral mass (the light system) requires the vicinity of laboratory apparatus (the heavy system). We will suppose that such a heavy system can be modelled as another quantum system; since gravity is universal, the lighter system can get entangled with the heavier system, providing an inherent source of gravitational decoherence. In this paper, we will consider a toy model composed of two light and two heavy quantum oscillators prepared in the motional ground state, forming pairs of probe-detector systems, and study under what conditions the entanglement between two light systems evades the decoherence induced by the heavy systems. We conclude by estimating the decoherence in the proposed experiment for testing the quantum nature of gravity.

DOI
10.1088/1361-6382/ad0496

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Abstract One of the outstanding questions in modern physics is how to test whether gravity is classical or quantum in a laboratory. Recently there has been a proposal to test the quantum nature of gravity by creating quantum superpositions of two nearby neutral masses, close enough that the quantum nature of gravity can entangle the two quantum systems, but still sufficiently far away that all other known Standard Model interactions remain negligible. However, preparing superposition states of a neutral mass (the light system) requires the vicinity of laboratory apparatus (the heavy system). We will suppose that such a heavy system can be modelled as another quantum system; since gravity is universal, the lighter system can get entangled with the heavier system, providing an inherent source of gravitational decoherence. In this paper, we will consider a toy model composed of two light and two heavy quantum oscillators prepared in the motional ground state, forming pairs of probe-detector systems, and study under what conditions the entanglement between two light systems evades the decoherence induced by the heavy systems. We conclude by estimating the decoherence in the proposed experiment for testing the quantum nature of gravity.
Abstract The experimental observation of a clear quantum signature of gravity is believed to be out of the grasp of current technology. However, several recent promising proposals to test the possible existence of non-classical features of gravity seem to be accessible by the state-of-art table-top experiments. Among them, some aim at measuring the gravitationally induced entanglement between two masses which would be a distinct non-classical signature of gravity. We explicitly study, in two of these proposals, the effects of decoherence on the system’s dynamics by monitoring the corresponding degree of entanglement. We identify the required experimental conditions necessary to perform successfully the experiments. In parallel, we account also for the possible effects of the continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) model, which is the most known among the models of spontaneous wavefunction collapse. We find that any value of the parameters of the CSL model would completely hinder the generation of gravitationally induced entanglement.
Recently, a theoretical and an experimental protocol known as quantum-gravity-induced entanglement of masses (QGEM) has been proposed to test the quantum nature of gravity using two mesoscopic masses, each placed in a superposition of two locations. If after eliminating all nongravitational interactions between them the particles become entangled, one can conclude that the gravitational potential is induced via a quantum mediator, i.e., graviton. In this paper we explore extensions of the QGEM experiment to multidimensional quantum objects and examine a range of different experiment geometries, in order to determine which would generate entanglement faster. We conclude that when a sufficiently high decoherence rate is introduced, multicomponent superpositions can outperform the two-qubit setup. With low decoherence however, and given a maximum distance $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}x$ between any two spatial states of a superposition, a set of two qubits placed in spatial superposition parallel to one another will outperform all other models given realistic experimental parameters. This is further verified with an experiment simulation, showing that O(103)O({10}^{3})O(103) measurements are required to reject the no-entanglement hypothesis with a parallel-qubit setup without decoherence at a 99.999.9%99.9 confidence level. The number of measurements increases when decoherence is introduced. When the decoherence rate reaches 0.125 Hz, six-dimensional qudits are required as the two-qubit system entanglement cannot be witnessed anymore. However, in this case, O(106)O({10}^{6})O(106) measurements will be required. One can group the witness operators to measure in order to reduce the number of measurements (up to tenfold). However, this may be challenging to implement experimentally.
Understanding gravity in the framework of quantum mechanics is one of the great challenges in modern physics. However, the lack of empirical evidence has lead to a debate on whether gravity is a quantum entity. Despite varied proposed probes for quantum gravity, it is fair to say that there are no feasible ideas yet to test its quantum coherent behavior directly in a laboratory experiment. Here, we introduce an idea for such a test based on the principle that two objects cannot be entangled without a quantum mediator. We show that despite the weakness of gravity, the phase evolution induced by the gravitational interaction of two micron size test masses in adjacent matter-wave interferometers can detectably entangle them even when they are placed far apart enough to keep Casimir-Polder forces at bay. We provide a prescription for witnessing this entanglement, which certifies gravity as a quantum coherent mediator, through simple spin correlation measurements.
The recently introduced quantum gravity-induced entanglement of masses (QGEM) protocol aims to test the quantum nature of gravity by witnessing the entanglement produced by the virtual exchange of a graviton between two spatially superposed masses. Shortly after the original proposal, further improvements upon the experiment were suggested, including the addition of a third mass, showing that three-qubit setups can be more resilient to higher rates of decoherence caused by the interaction of the system with the environment. In this work, we investigate the type of tripartite entanglement generated in these three-qubit QGEM experiments when considering the effects of decoherence. We show that the gravitational interaction between the qubits is able to generate genuine tripartite entanglement between them, studying the corresponding parameter spaces and comparing the performance of the possible experimental configurations of the three qubits at allowing for the detection of genuine entanglement via an entanglement witness.
A promising route to testing quantum gravity in the laboratory is to look for gravitationally induced entanglement (GIE) between two or more quantum matter systems. To date, proposed tests have primarily focused on microsolid platforms prepared in highly nonclassical states, such as N00N states or strongly squeezed states. Here, we instead consider measuring GIE in atom interferometry as evidence of quantum gravity. We propose placing two atom interferometers next to each other in parallel and looking for correlations in the atom-number statistics at their output ports. Importantly, GIE is possible without challenging macroscopic superposition states, such as N00N or Schrödinger-cat states. Instead, GIE can arise using coherent, near-classical atomic states, substantially reducing the experimental complexity. Observing the effect in this regime would require the total mass of the atom interferometers to be near the Planck mass scale. However, we show that state-of-the-art quantum squeezing techniques in cold-atom systems can significantly lower this mass requirement, and outline realistic pathways by which the necessary mass scales could be achieved in the near future, placing laboratory tests of GIE with atom interferometers within reach.
Abstract No experiment to date has provided evidence for quantum features of the gravitational interaction. Recently proposed tests suggest looking for the generation of quantum entanglement between massive objects as a possible route towards the observation of such features. Motivated by advances in optical cooling of mirrors, here we provide a systematic study of entanglement between two masses that are coupled gravitationally. We first consider the masses trapped at all times in harmonic potentials (optomechanics) and then the masses released from the traps. This leads to the estimate of the experimental parameters required for the observation of gravitationally induced entanglement. The optomechanical setup demands LIGO-like mirrors and squeezing or long coherence times, but the released masses can be light and accumulate detectable entanglement in a timescale shorter than their coherence times. No macroscopic quantum superposition develops during the evolution. We discuss the implications from such thought experiments regarding the nature of the gravitational coupling.