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arXiv:2511.10738

Diffusion in the stochastic Klein-Gordon equation

Jonathan Oppenheim, Emanuele Panella

gr-qcquant-phSubmitted Nov 13, 2025• Announced Nov 17, 2025
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Theories of gravity in which the metric is fundamentally classical predict stochastic fluctuations in the gravitational field. In this article, we study the stochastic Klein-Gordon equation as a starting point to understand the phenomenology of linearised classical-quantum hybrid gravity. In particular, we describe how to compute the non-equilibrium two point function of the scalar field, showing explicitly the role of the initial state in regulating divergences. To do so, we use a "mod-squared-retarded" pole-prescription and find that the covariance in the field is non-zero only outside the lightcone, scales inversely with the spatial distance of the spacetime points and grows linearly in time. The energy has a contact divergence similar to that found in the quantum case. We conclude by discussing possible implications of anomalous diffusion for hybrid theories of gravity, especially looking at the energy density in the predicted gravitational waves background, which can be inferred from the scalar covariances.

Comments
26 pages + appendices

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Theories of gravity in which the metric is fundamentally classical predict stochastic fluctuations in the gravitational field. In this article, we study the stochastic Klein-Gordon equation as a starting point to understand the phenomenology of linearised classical-quantum hybrid gravity. In particular, we describe how to compute the non-equilibrium two point function of the scalar field, showing explicitly the role of the initial state in regulating divergences. To do so, we use a "mod-squared-retarded" pole-prescription and find that the covariance in the field is non-zero only outside the lightcone, scales inversely with the spatial distance of the spacetime points and grows linearly in time. The energy has a contact divergence similar to that found in the quantum case. We conclude by discussing possible implications of anomalous diffusion for hybrid theories of gravity, especially looking at the energy density in the predicted gravitational waves background, which can be inferred from the scalar covariances.
In hybrid classical-quantum theories, the dynamics of the classical system induce the classicality of the quantum system, meaning that such models do not necessarily require a measurement postulate to describe probabilistic measurement outcomes. It has recently been shown that covariant classical-quantum dynamics can be constructed using path integral methods, with the dynamics encoded in a combined action for the classical and quantum variables. This work introduces a classical-quantum model whereby quantum gravity interacts with a classical scalar field. The scalar field can be viewed as fundamentally classical or effectively classical due to the decoherence of a quantum gravity theory. The dynamics act to collapse quantum spacetimes according to their Ricci scalar, with corresponding diffusion in the scalar field due to the quantum back-reaction. In the classical limit, the diffusion in the scalar field manifests itself via stochastic fluctuations in the Newtonian potential. Because we couple a classical scalar field to perturbative quantum gravity, we find the theory is not renormalizable but is instead to be viewed as an effective field theory. However, it is an effective field theory that does not necessarily require a measurement postulate. More generally, our work shows it is possible to integrate collapse dynamics with high-energy physics and covariance.
We give a first principles derivation of a master equation for the evolution of a quantum matter field in a linearly perturbed Minkowski spacetime, based solely on quantum field theory and general relativity. We make no additional assumptions nor introduce extra ingredients, as is often done in alternative quantum theories. When the quantum matter field is projected to a one-particle state, the master equation for a non-relativistic quantum particle in a weak gravitational field predicts decoherence in the energy basis , in contrast to most existing theories of gravitational decoherence. We point out the gauge nature of time and space reparameterizations in matter–gravity couplings, and warn that 'intrinsic' decoherence or alternative quantum theories invoking stochastic dynamics arising from temporal or spatial fluctuations violate this fundamental symmetry of classical general relativity. Interestingly we find that the decoherence rate depends on extra parameters other than the Planck scale, an important feature of gravitational decoherence. This is similar to the dependence of the decoherence rate of a quantum Brownian particle to the temperature and spectral density of the environment it interacts with. The corresponding features when gravity acts as an environment in decohering quantum objects are what we call the ' textures' of spacetime . We point out the marked difference between the case when gravity is represented as a background spacetime versus the case when gravity acts like a thermodynamic bath to quantum particles. This points to the possibility of using gravitational decoherence measurements to discern whether gravity is intrinsically elemental or emergent.
Abstract This work presents an alternative approach to obtain the quantum field equations in curved spacetime, considering that sufficiently small particles follow stochastic trajectories around geodesic. Our proposal is based on a stochastic differential equation in which the noise term experienced by the quantum particles is a consequence of the stochastic background in spacetime. This fact allows the particles to describe erratic movements and locally the universe exhibits characteristics akin to a lake with gentle ripples rather than a flat unyielding surface. Building upon this foundational understanding, we investigate the influence of this background on quantum-scale particles without considering the metric to be stochastic, rather we let test particles move randomly around the geodesic of macroscopic particles. Their behavior aligns with solutions to the Klein-Gordon (KG) equation specific to this curved spacetime. As the KG equation, in its non-relativistic limit within a flat spacetime, reduces to the Schrödinger equation, consequently, we propose a compelling connection: the Schrödinger equation may emerge directly from a spacetime lacking local smoothness.
The issue of non-locality in quantum mechanics can potentially be resolved by considering relativistically covariant diffusion in four-dimensional spacetime. Stochastic particles described by the Klein-Gordon equation are shown to undergo a classical diffusion process in spacetime coordinates, which is seen by transforming the quantum Cauchy-momentum equations to a Lagrangian frame of reference. Since the quantum potential term is removed under this transformation, the equations for momentum propagation along particle trajectories assume a classical form. A local stochastic de Broglie-Bohm interpretation for the Klein-Gordon system can subsequently be derived. We also introduce the concept of momentum equivariance to replace the second-order Bohm-Newton equations of motion, which break down due to non-linear terms of the stochastic Lagrangian derivative.
It has already been suggested that quantum theory needs to be reformulated or modified in order to explain the measurement process and the successive collapse of the wave- function. However, there are also models of another type which keep quantum theory intact and instead modify the classical gravity by introducing stochasticity to it. These models suggest that there is a fluctuation in the background gravitational field which eventually results in the decoherence of the wavefunction. These fluctuations limit the precision with which one can measure the properties of a spacetime geometry with a quantum probe. Two similar models along this line have been suggested by Karolyhazy (K-model) and Diósi(D-model). They are based upon apparently different spacetime bounds. The results obtained for the coherence length are also somewhat different. In this article, we show that, given certain conditions apply, the minimal spacetime bounds in these two models are equivalent. We also derive the two-point correlation for the fluctuation potential in K-model which turns out to be non-white, unlike in D-model, where the corresponding correlation is white noise in time. In our opinion, this is the origin of discrepancy in the predictions of the two models. We argue that the noise correlation cannot be determined uniquely from a given spacetime bound.
The necessity of quantising the gravitational field is still subject to an open debate. In this paper we compare the approach of quantum gravity, with that of a fundamentally semi-classical theory of gravity, in the weak-field non-relativistic limit. We show that, while in the former case the Schrödinger equation stays linear, in the latter case one ends up with the so-called Schrödinger-Newton equation, which involves a nonlinear, non-local gravitational contribution. We further discuss that the Schrödinger-Newton equation does not describe the collapse of the wave-function, although it was initially proposed for exactly this purpose. Together with the standard collapse postulate, fundamentally semi-classical gravity gives rise to superluminal signalling. A consistent fundamentally semi-classical theory of gravity can therefore only be achieved together with a suitable prescription of the wave-function collapse. We further discuss, how collapse models avoid such superluminal signalling and compare the nonlinearities appearing in these models with those in the Schrödinger-Newton equation.