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arXiv:2607.05715 · Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

Entangled quantum clocks as operational probes of spacetime curvature

Ivana Đorđević, Aleksandra Gočanin, Dragoljub Gočanin

quant-phSubmitted Jul 7, 2026• Announced Jul 8, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Building on the framework developed by Perche [Phys. Rev. D 106, 025018 (2022)], we study two localized nonrelativistic quantum particles propagating along timelike geodesics in a curved spacetime background. Each particle is coupled to a quantum clock that operationally records the time spent in a prescribed spatial region. We compute the covariance of the resulting time observables for separable and entangled two-particle states, comparing flat and curved backgrounds. We then reformulate the protocol as a Bell-like experiment and show that the Bell parameter can acquire a curvature-induced correction. In particular, a protocol calibrated to saturate the classical bound in flat spacetime can be driven above this bound in curved spacetime for entangled states. We focus on two-dimensional curved backgrounds in which the local tidal term induces an effective harmonic potential in the Fermi-frame description. Our results show that spacetime curvature can modify operationally defined quantum correlations and suggest entangled quantum clocks as probes of spacetime curvature.

Comments
15 pages, 2 figures, 3 appendices; comments welcome

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Building on the framework developed by Perche [Phys. Rev. D 106, 025018 (2022)], we study two localized nonrelativistic quantum particles propagating along timelike geodesics in a curved spacetime background. Each particle is coupled to a quantum clock that operationally records the time spent in a prescribed spatial region. We compute the covariance of the resulting time observables for separable and entangled two-particle states, comparing flat and curved backgrounds. We then reformulate the protocol as a Bell-like experiment and show that the Bell parameter can acquire a curvature-induced correction. In particular, a protocol calibrated to saturate the classical bound in flat spacetime can be driven above this bound in curved spacetime for entangled states. We focus on two-dimensional curved backgrounds in which the local tidal term induces an effective harmonic potential in the Fermi-frame description. Our results show that spacetime curvature can modify operationally defined quantum correlations and suggest entangled quantum clocks as probes of spacetime curvature.
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Classical clocks measure proper time along their worldline, and Riemannian geometry provides tools for predicting the time shown by clocks in both flat and curved spacetimes. Common approaches to time in quantum systems, based for instance on wave functions or density matrices, tend to obscure this geometric property at the quantum level. Here, a new framework is demonstrated for perturbing the classical path-length functional to include quantum degrees of freedom within a modified Riemannian geometry. In this framework, a quantum clock travels on geodesics of a family of spacetimes deformed by parameters specifying the clock's quantum state. Detailed derivations provide potentially testable corrections to gravitational time-dilation in Schwarzschild spacetime that scale with the ratio of the clock's Compton wavelength to its wave packet's spatial extent.
Quantum technologies present new opportunities for fundamental tests of nature. One potential application is to probe the interplay between quantum physics and general relativity—a field of physics with no empirical evidence yet. Here we show that quantum networks open a new window to test this interface. We demonstrate how photon mediated entanglement between atomic or atomlike systems can be used to probe time-dilation-induced entanglement and interference modulation. Key are nonlocal measurements between clocks in a gravitational field, which can be achieved either through direct photon interference or by using auxiliary entanglement. The resulting observable depends on the interference between different proper times, and can only be explained if both quantum theory and general relativity are taken into account. The proposed protocol enables clock interferometry on kilometer-scale separations and beyond. Our work thus shows a realistic experimental route for a first test of quantum theory on curved spacetime, opening up new scientific opportunities for quantum networks.
Using a model quantum clock, I evaluate an expression for the time of a non-relativistic quantum particle to transit a piecewise geodesic path in a background gravitational field with small spacetime curvature (gravity gradient), in the case in which the apparatus is in free fall. This calculation complements and extends an earlier one (Davies 2004) in which the apparatus is fixed to the surface of the Earth. The result confirms that, for particle velocities not too low, the quantum and classical transit times coincide, in conformity with the principle of equivalence. I also calculate the quantum corrections to the transit time when the de Broglie wavelengths are long enough to probe the spacetime curvature. The results are compared with the calculation of Chiao and Speliotopoulos (2003), who propose an experiment to measure the foregoing effects.
Using a model quantum clock, I evaluate an expression for the time of a non-relativistic quantum particle to transit a piecewise geodesic path in a background gravitational field with small spacetime curvature (gravity gradient), in the case that the apparatus is in free fall. This calculation complements and extends an earlier one (Davies 2004) in which the apparatus is fixed to the surface of the Earth. The result confirms that, for particle velocities not too low, the quantum and classical transit times coincide, in conformity with the principle of equivalence. I also calculate the quantum corrections to the transit time when the de Broglie wavelengths are long enough to probe the spacetime curvature. The results are compared with the calculation of Chaio and Speliotopoulos (2003), who propose an experiment to measure the foregoing effects.
This thesis examines how atomic quantum systems can be utilized to probe spacetime effects in regimes where quantum mechanics and general relativity intersect, and how gravitational phenomena imprint on experimentally accessible observables. The work is based on two complementary studies. In Article I, we propose an experimental scheme that combines trapped-atom interferometry with Ramsey interrogation to realize a clock held in a spatial superposition at two heights in Earth’s gravitational field. Using a path-integral treatment of interferometric phases and incorporating the internal-energy contribution to mass, we derive leading relativistic corrections and identify two signatures of proper-time superposition: (i) oscillations of interferometric visibility and (ii) an effective shift of the clock transition frequency. We argue that this frequency-shift signature may be within reach of current or near-term technology, even when visibility changes are too small to resolve. In Article II, we develop a general framework for spontaneous emission in curved spacetime and apply it to a gravitational-wave background. We demonstrate that gravitational waves can induce spectral sidebands and directional modulations in the emitted radiation, and formulate parameter estimation via Fisher-information-based sensitivity bounds, yielding order-of-magnitude requirements for detectability under idealized measurement conditions.