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arXiv:2411.17588

Updating the constraint on the quantum collapse models via kilogram masses

Dai, Qi, Haixing Miao, Yiqiu Ma

Published Nov 26, 2024• 0 citations

Abstract

Quantum mechanics, which governs all microscopic phenomena, encounters challenges when applied to macroscopic objects that exhibit classical behavior. To address this micro-macro disparity, collapse models such as the Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) and Diosi-Penrose (DP) models have been proposed. These models phenomenologically modify quantum theory to reconcile its predictions with the observed classical behavior of macroscopic systems. Based on previous works\,([Phys.\,Rev\,D,\,95(8):084054\,(2017)] and [Phys.\,Rev.\,D,\,94:124036,\,(2016)]), an improved bound on the collapse model parameters is given using the updated acceleration noise data released from LISA Pathfinder\,([Phys.\,Rev.\,D, 110(4):042004,\,(2024)]). The CSL collapse rate is bounded to be at most $λ_{\rm CSL} \leq 8.3\times 10^{-11}$\,$s^{-1}$ at the mili-Hertz band when $r_{\rm CSL}=10^{-7}\,{\rm m}$, and the DP model's regularization cut-off scale is constraint to be $σ_{\rm DP}\sim 285.5$\,fm. Furthermore, we discuss the potential advantages of using deep-underground laboratories to test these quantum collapse models. Our results show the quiet seismic condition of the current deep-underground laboratory has the potential to further constrain the CSL collapse model to $λ_{\rm CSL}\leq3\times 10^{-11}\,{\rm s}^{-1}$ when $r_{\rm CSL}=10^{-7}\,{\rm m}$.

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2411.17588

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Quantum mechanics, which governs all microscopic phenomena, encounters challenges when applied to macroscopic objects that exhibit classical behavior. To address this micro-macro disparity, collapse models such as the Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) and Diosi-Penrose (DP) models have been proposed. These models phenomenologically modify quantum theory to reconcile its predictions with the observed classical behavior of macroscopic systems. Based on previous works,([Phys.,Rev,D,,95(8):084054,(2017)] and [Phys.,Rev.,D,,94:124036,,(2016)]), an improved bound on the collapse model parameters is given using the updated acceleration noise data released from LISA Pathfinder,([Phys.,Rev.,D, 110(4):042004,,(2024)]). The CSL collapse rate is bounded to be at most

λ_{\rm CSL} \leq 8.3\times 10^{-11}

,

s^{-1}

at the mili-Hertz band when

r_{\rm CSL}=10^{-7}\,{\rm m}

, and the DP model's regularization cut-off scale is constraint to be

σ_{\rm DP}\sim 285.5

,fm. Furthermore, we discuss the potential advantages of using deep-underground laboratories to test these quantum collapse models. Our results show the quiet seismic condition of the current deep-underground laboratory has the potential to further constrain the CSL collapse model to

λ_{\rm CSL}\leq3\times 10^{-11}\,{\rm s}^{-1}

when

r_{\rm CSL}=10^{-7}\,{\rm m}

.

Spontaneous collapse models are phenomological theories formulated to address major difficulties in macroscopic quantum mechanics. We place significant bounds on the parameters of the leading collapse models, the continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) model, and the Diosi-Penrose (DP) model, by using LISA Pathfinder's measurement, at a record accuracy, of the relative acceleration noise between two free-falling macroscopic test masses. In particular, we bound the CSL collapse rate to be at most $(2.96\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.12)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. This competitive bound explores a new frequency regime, 0.7 to 20 mHz, and overlaps with the lower bound ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ proposed by Adler in order for the CSL collapse noise to be substantial enough to explain the phenomenology of quantum measurement. Moreover, we bound the regularization cutoff scale used in the DP model to prevent divergences to be at least $40.1\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{fm}$, which is larger than the size of any nucleus. Thus, we rule out the DP model if the cutoff is the size of a fundamental particle.

The article reviews our recent experimental results on the Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) model and on the gravity related collapse model developed by Diósi and Penrose (DP). These models of dynamical reduction of the wave function consist in non-linear and stochastic modifications of the Schröedinger equation, which lead to a progressive breakdown of the superposition principle, as the size of the system increases. We performed a high sensitivity survey of the spontaneous radiation phenomenon, predicted by the collapse models, in a dedicated experiment operated in the extremely low background of the Gran Sasso underground National Laboratory of INFN in Italy. Our studies set the strongest bounds on the CSL parameters, in a broad region of the parameters space, and rule out the DP in its present formulation.

Abstract The article reviews our recent experimental results on the Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) model and on the gravity related collapse model developed by Diósi and Penrose (DP). These models of dynamical reduction of the wave function consist in non-linear and stochastic modifications of the Schröedinger equation, which lead to a progressive breakdown of the superposition principle, as the size of the system increases. We performed a high sensitivity survey of the spontaneous radiation phenomenon, predicted by the collapse models, at the Gran Sasso underground National Laboratory of INFN in Italy. Our studies set the strongest bounds on the CSL parameters, in a broad region of the parameters space, and rule out the DP in its present formulation.

Spontaneous wavefunction collapse models offer a solution to the quantum measurement problem, by modifying the Schrödinger equation with nonlinear and stochastic terms. The Continuous Spontaneous Localisation (CSL) model is the most studied among these models, with phenomenological parameters that are constrained by experiments. Here, we exploit the recent analysis of LISA Pathfinder's angular motion data to derive a tighter constraint than previously achieved with translational motion. Moreover, we identify the general conditions for preferring rotational measurement over translational ones for constraining the CSL model.

A model of the vacuum as a face-centered-cubic lattice predicts a two-step quantum–classical threshold, at 13.1 and 22.6 µg, from the hypothesis that a center-of-mass excitation stays coherent only while its reduced Compton wavelength is resolvable by the lattice. Collapse models also limit macroscopic coherence, so the two must be told apart by more than a scale. We derive three discriminators from the model's postulates and compute the counterpart in Diósi–Penrose collapse and in continuous spontaneous localization (CSL). The thresholds depend on total mass alone, while both collapse models depend on density. Below 13.1 µg the model predicts no intrinsic decoherence, where collapse takes 1 s for Diósi–Penrose and about a microsecond for CSL at its experimental bound, for 10⁻¹⁵ kg over 1 µm. The model predicts no measurable heating; read as position localization, its own rate scale would exceed the LISA Pathfinder bound by 66 orders of magnitude, so coherence loss above the threshold must be dephasing in the energy basis. If its effective mode mass is the relevant mass, a 16.2 µg mechanical cat state then bounds the irreversible coupling at 38 orders below its natural scale. A worked levitated-particle example and a public script complete the analysis.

Wave function collapse models postulate a fundamental breakdown of the quantum superposition principle at the macroscale. Therefore, experimental tests of collapse models are also fundamental tests of quantum mechanics. Here, we compute the upper bounds on the collapse parameters, which can be inferred by the gravitational wave detectors LIGO, LISA Pathfinder, and AURIGA. We consider the most widely used collapse model, the continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) model. We show that these experiments exclude a huge portion of the CSL parameter space, the strongest bound being set by the recently launched space mission LISA Pathfinder. We also rule out a proposal for quantum-gravity-induced decoherence.