Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2601.02470 · Quantum Science and Technology

Gravitational time dilation in quantum clock interferometry with entangled multi-photon states and quantum memories

Mustafa Gündoğan, Roy Barzel, Dennis Rätzel

quant-phSubmitted Jan 5, 2026• Announced Jan 7, 2026• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Gravitational time dilation implies that clocks held at different heights accumulate different proper times. We analyze a memory-assisted quantum clock interferometer in which a frequency-bin photonic clock is stored in two vertically separated quantum memories for a controllable duration, such that the joint state evolves in a quantum superposition of two proper times. After retrieval, the photonic modes interfere in a Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interferometer, for which we derive analytic expressions for the resulting multiphoton detection statistics. Extending this HOM-based scheme from entangled photon pairs to frequency-entangled 2N-photon inputs, we show that the proper-time dependent phase is amplified by a factor N, leading to an N-times faster collapse and revival of the interference signal compared with the two-photon case. Incorporating finite memory efficiency and lifetime, we identify regimes where this modulation remains observable. For parameters compatible with demonstrated Rb and Cs memories and achievable optical frequency separations, the first collapse occurs for height differences in the order of 10-100 m with subsecond to few-second storage times, while suitable rare-earth ion and alkali memory combinations can reduce the required height to the few-metre scale. These results establish near-term laboratory conditions for observing entanglement dynamics driven by gravitational time dilation in a photonic platform.

Journal reference
Quantum Sci. Technol. 11, 045047 (2026)
DOI
10.1088/2058-9565/aea2c3
Comments
7 pages, 3 figures

Related papers

Quantum clocks, gravitational time dilation, and quantum interference

Takeshi Chiba, Shunichiro Kinoshita

A proper time observable for a quantum clock is introduced and it is found that the proper time read by one clock conditioned on another clock reading a different proper time obeys classical time dilation in accordance with special relativistic kinematical time dilation. Here, we extend this proposal to a weak gravitational field in order to investigate whether the weak equivalence principle holds for quantum matter. We find that for general quantum states the quantum time dilation in a weak gravitational field obeys a similar gravitational time dilation found in classical relativity. However, unlike the special relativistic case, the time dilation involves the external time (a background coordinate time at the observer on the Earth) as well as the proper times of two clocks. We also investigate a quantum time dilation effect induced by a clock in a superposition of wave packets localized in momentum space or in position space and propose the setup to observe the gravitational effect in the quantum interference effect in the time dilation.

arXiv:2209.07638•Physical review. D/Physical review. D.•Dec 26, 2022•5 citations

Witnessing mass-energy equivalence with trapped atom interferometers

Jerzy Paczos, Joshua Foo, Magdalena Zych

We propose an experimental setup to probe the interplay between the quantum superposition principle and gravitational time dilation arising from the mass-energy equivalence. It capitalizes on state-of-the-art atom interferometers that can keep atoms trapped in a superposition of heights in Earth's gravitational field for exceedingly long times, reaching the minute scale. Our proposal consists of adding two additional laser pulses to the existing experiments that would set up a clock trapped at a superposition of heights, reading a quantum superposition of relativistic proper times. We develop a method to include relativistic corrections to Bloch oscillations, which describe the trapped part of the interferometer. We derive the trajectories and corresponding phases acquired in each arm of the interferometer. We then show that a superposition of proper times manifests in the interference pattern in two ways: visibility modulations and a shift of the atom's resonant frequency. We argue that the latter might be observable with current technology.

arXiv:2406.19037•Quantum•Aug 8, 2025•4 citations

Gravitationally induced non-Markovianity in delocalized quantum clocks

M. F. Yassen, A-B A Mohamed, A. Saad +2 more

Abstract We show that general relativistic time dilation can act as a controllable source of non-Markovianity in the dynamics of delocalized quantum clocks coupled to structured environments. As a concrete setting, we model a delocalized quantum clock, a two-level Unruh-DeWitt detector interacting with a thermal scalar field with finite correlation time in a weak, static gravitational field. The gravitational redshift between spatially sepa- rated branches leads to a path-dependent sampling of the bath correlation functions and to an effective spectral mismatch between the arms of the interferometer. Within a second-order time-convolutionless expansion we derive a time-local master equation whose time-dependent rates depend explicitly on the redshift parameter and reduce to the usual Markovian Gorini-Kossakowski-Sudarshan-Lindblad generator when gravity is switched off or the bath becomes memoryless. Numerical evaluation for an Ohmic environment reveals gravitationally in- duced coherence revivals and information backflow, providing a genuine non-Markovian signature that can be quantified by standard trace-distance measures. We identify a resonance-like regime in which the gravitational detuning becomes comparable to the dominant bath frequencies, leading to a suppression of decoherence and an enhancement of entanglement lifetimes relative to the flat-space Markovian case. Finally, by comparing the size of the gravity-induced deviations to quantum projection noise in state-of-the-art optical clocks, we derive an analytic signal-to-noise ratio and show that, within our model, engineered low-frequency reservoirs could al- low gravity-controlled memory effects to be resolved above the shot-noise limit on few-hour integration times, whereas for fast thermal baths the effect remains QPN-limited and effectively unobservable.

General Relativity and Gravitation•Feb 28, 2026•0 citations

Quantum Signatures of Proper Time in Optical Ion Clocks

Gabriel Sorci, Joshua Foo, Dietrich G. Leibfried +2 more

Optical clocks based on atoms and ions probe relativistic effects with unprecedented sensitivity. They resolve time dilation due to atom motion or different positions in the gravitational potential through frequency shifts. However, all measurements of time dilation so far can be explained effectively as the result of dynamics with respect to a classical proper time parameter. Here we show that atomic clocks can probe effects where a classical description of the proper time dynamics is insufficient as superpositions of proper time emerge. We apply a Hamiltonian formalism to derive time dilation effects in harmonically trapped clock atoms and show how second-order Doppler shifts due to the vacuum energy, squeezing, and quantum corrections to the dynamics arise. We also demonstrate that time-dilation-induced entanglement between motion and clock evolution can become observable in state-of-the-art clocks when the motion of the atoms is strongly squeezed, realizing proper time interferometry. Our results show that experiments with trapped ion clocks are within reach of probing relativistic evolution of clocks for which a quantum description of proper time becomes necessary.

arXiv:2509.09573•Physical Review Letters•Feb 27, 2026•3 citations

Measuring gravitational time dilation with delocalized quantum superpositions

Albert Roura, Christian Schubert, Dennis Schlippert +1 more

Atomic clocks can measure the gravitational redshift predicted by general relativity with great accuracy and for height differences as little as 1 cm. All existing experiments, however, involve the comparison of two independent clocks at different locations rather than a single clock in a delocalized quantum superposition. Here we present an interferometry scheme employing group-II-type atoms, such as Sr or Yb, capable of measuring the gravitational time dilation in a coherent superposition of atomic wave packets at two different heights. In contrast to other recent proposals, there is no need for pulses that can efficiently diffract both internal states. Instead, the scheme relies on very simple atom optics for which high diffraction efficiencies can be achieved with rather mild requirements on laser power. Furthermore, the effects of vibration noise are subtracted by employing a simultaneous Rb interferometer that acts as an inertial reference. Remarkably, the recently commissioned VLBAI facility in Hannover, a 10-m atomic fountain that can simultaneously operate Yb and Rb atoms and enables up to 2.8 s of free evolution time, meets all the requirements for a successful experimental implementation.

arXiv:2010.11156•Physical review. D/Physical review. D.•Oct 1, 2021•35 citations

Gravitational redshift in quantum-clock interferometry

Albert Roura

Remarkable advances in atom interferometry have enabled the creation of macroscopically delocalized quantum superpositions with atomic wave packets separated up to half a meter. Nevertheless, in all cases realized so far the differences in the dynamics of the two wave packets of the superposition can be entirely described in terms of Newtonian mechanics. Therefore, the creation of delocalized coherent superpositions of quantum systems experiencing different relativistic effects is an important milestone in future research at the interface of gravity and quantum mechanics. This could be achieved by generating a superposition of quantum clocks that follow paths with different gravitational time dilation and investigating the consequences on the interference signal when they are eventually recombined. After explaining the major challenges that quantum-clock interferometry based on light-pulse atom interferometers is confronted with (including their insensitivity to gravitational redshift in a uniform field), I will present a promising scheme capable of measuring the effects of gravitational time dilation in interfering quantum clocks. Its experimental implementation should be within reach of the 10-meter atomic fountains of Sr and Yb atoms that will soon become available in Stanford and HITec (Hanover) respectively.

•Jan 1, 2021•72 citations
Gravitational time dilation implies that clocks held at different heights accumulate different proper times. We analyze a memory-assisted quantum clock interferometer in which a frequency-bin photonic clock is stored in two vertically separated quantum memories for a controllable duration, such that the joint state evolves in a quantum superposition of two proper times. After retrieval, the photonic modes interfere in a Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interferometer, for which we derive analytic expressions for the resulting multiphoton detection statistics. Extending this HOM-based scheme from entangled photon pairs to frequency-entangled 2N-photon inputs, we show that the proper-time dependent phase is amplified by a factor N, leading to an N-times faster collapse and revival of the interference signal compared with the two-photon case. Incorporating finite memory efficiency and lifetime, we identify regimes where this modulation remains observable. For parameters compatible with demonstrated Rb and Cs memories and achievable optical frequency separations, the first collapse occurs for height differences in the order of 10-100 m with subsecond to few-second storage times, while suitable rare-earth ion and alkali memory combinations can reduce the required height to the few-metre scale. These results establish near-term laboratory conditions for observing entanglement dynamics driven by gravitational time dilation in a photonic platform.
A proper time observable for a quantum clock is introduced and it is found that the proper time read by one clock conditioned on another clock reading a different proper time obeys classical time dilation in accordance with special relativistic kinematical time dilation. Here, we extend this proposal to a weak gravitational field in order to investigate whether the weak equivalence principle holds for quantum matter. We find that for general quantum states the quantum time dilation in a weak gravitational field obeys a similar gravitational time dilation found in classical relativity. However, unlike the special relativistic case, the time dilation involves the external time (a background coordinate time at the observer on the Earth) as well as the proper times of two clocks. We also investigate a quantum time dilation effect induced by a clock in a superposition of wave packets localized in momentum space or in position space and propose the setup to observe the gravitational effect in the quantum interference effect in the time dilation.
We propose an experimental setup to probe the interplay between the quantum superposition principle and gravitational time dilation arising from the mass-energy equivalence. It capitalizes on state-of-the-art atom interferometers that can keep atoms trapped in a superposition of heights in Earth's gravitational field for exceedingly long times, reaching the minute scale. Our proposal consists of adding two additional laser pulses to the existing experiments that would set up a clock trapped at a superposition of heights, reading a quantum superposition of relativistic proper times. We develop a method to include relativistic corrections to Bloch oscillations, which describe the trapped part of the interferometer. We derive the trajectories and corresponding phases acquired in each arm of the interferometer. We then show that a superposition of proper times manifests in the interference pattern in two ways: visibility modulations and a shift of the atom's resonant frequency. We argue that the latter might be observable with current technology.
Abstract We show that general relativistic time dilation can act as a controllable source of non-Markovianity in the dynamics of delocalized quantum clocks coupled to structured environments. As a concrete setting, we model a delocalized quantum clock, a two-level Unruh-DeWitt detector interacting with a thermal scalar field with finite correlation time in a weak, static gravitational field. The gravitational redshift between spatially sepa- rated branches leads to a path-dependent sampling of the bath correlation functions and to an effective spectral mismatch between the arms of the interferometer. Within a second-order time-convolutionless expansion we derive a time-local master equation whose time-dependent rates depend explicitly on the redshift parameter and reduce to the usual Markovian Gorini-Kossakowski-Sudarshan-Lindblad generator when gravity is switched off or the bath becomes memoryless. Numerical evaluation for an Ohmic environment reveals gravitationally in- duced coherence revivals and information backflow, providing a genuine non-Markovian signature that can be quantified by standard trace-distance measures. We identify a resonance-like regime in which the gravitational detuning becomes comparable to the dominant bath frequencies, leading to a suppression of decoherence and an enhancement of entanglement lifetimes relative to the flat-space Markovian case. Finally, by comparing the size of the gravity-induced deviations to quantum projection noise in state-of-the-art optical clocks, we derive an analytic signal-to-noise ratio and show that, within our model, engineered low-frequency reservoirs could al- low gravity-controlled memory effects to be resolved above the shot-noise limit on few-hour integration times, whereas for fast thermal baths the effect remains QPN-limited and effectively unobservable.
Optical clocks based on atoms and ions probe relativistic effects with unprecedented sensitivity. They resolve time dilation due to atom motion or different positions in the gravitational potential through frequency shifts. However, all measurements of time dilation so far can be explained effectively as the result of dynamics with respect to a classical proper time parameter. Here we show that atomic clocks can probe effects where a classical description of the proper time dynamics is insufficient as superpositions of proper time emerge. We apply a Hamiltonian formalism to derive time dilation effects in harmonically trapped clock atoms and show how second-order Doppler shifts due to the vacuum energy, squeezing, and quantum corrections to the dynamics arise. We also demonstrate that time-dilation-induced entanglement between motion and clock evolution can become observable in state-of-the-art clocks when the motion of the atoms is strongly squeezed, realizing proper time interferometry. Our results show that experiments with trapped ion clocks are within reach of probing relativistic evolution of clocks for which a quantum description of proper time becomes necessary.
Atomic clocks can measure the gravitational redshift predicted by general relativity with great accuracy and for height differences as little as 1 cm. All existing experiments, however, involve the comparison of two independent clocks at different locations rather than a single clock in a delocalized quantum superposition. Here we present an interferometry scheme employing group-II-type atoms, such as Sr or Yb, capable of measuring the gravitational time dilation in a coherent superposition of atomic wave packets at two different heights. In contrast to other recent proposals, there is no need for pulses that can efficiently diffract both internal states. Instead, the scheme relies on very simple atom optics for which high diffraction efficiencies can be achieved with rather mild requirements on laser power. Furthermore, the effects of vibration noise are subtracted by employing a simultaneous Rb interferometer that acts as an inertial reference. Remarkably, the recently commissioned VLBAI facility in Hannover, a 10-m atomic fountain that can simultaneously operate Yb and Rb atoms and enables up to 2.8 s of free evolution time, meets all the requirements for a successful experimental implementation.
Remarkable advances in atom interferometry have enabled the creation of macroscopically delocalized quantum superpositions with atomic wave packets separated up to half a meter. Nevertheless, in all cases realized so far the differences in the dynamics of the two wave packets of the superposition can be entirely described in terms of Newtonian mechanics. Therefore, the creation of delocalized coherent superpositions of quantum systems experiencing different relativistic effects is an important milestone in future research at the interface of gravity and quantum mechanics. This could be achieved by generating a superposition of quantum clocks that follow paths with different gravitational time dilation and investigating the consequences on the interference signal when they are eventually recombined. After explaining the major challenges that quantum-clock interferometry based on light-pulse atom interferometers is confronted with (including their insensitivity to gravitational redshift in a uniform field), I will present a promising scheme capable of measuring the effects of gravitational time dilation in interfering quantum clocks. Its experimental implementation should be within reach of the 10-meter atomic fountains of Sr and Yb atoms that will soon become available in Stanford and HITec (Hanover) respectively.