Neutrons, Gravity, and Quantum Mechanics

Валерий Викторович Несвижевский, Alexander K. Petukhov, Hans G. Börner +9 more

J.-L. Staudenmann, S. Werner, R. Colella +1 more

The experiments described in this paper probe the simultaneous effects of gravity, inertia, and quantum mechanics on the motion of the neutron. Using a neutron interferometer of the type developed by Bonse and Hart for x rays, we have observed quantum-mechanical interference phenomena induced by the gravitational field of the Earth and by the Earth's rotation relative to the fixed stars. The importance of these experiments with regard to the role of the principle of equivalence in quantum mechanics is discussed.

Apoorva G. Wagh, Veer Chand Rakhecha

Abel Camacho, Alfredo Macı́as

The field of neutron interferometry achieved one of its most significant successes with the detection of the influence of gravity in the quantum mechanical phase of a thermal neutron beam. From the latest experimental readouts in this context an intriguing discrepancy has been elicited. Indeed, theory and experiment dissent by one per cent, and though this fact could be a consequence of the mounting of the experimental device, it might also embody a difference between the way in which gravity behaves in classical and quantum mechanics. In this work the effects, upon the interference pattern, of space–time torsion will be analyzed heeding its coupling with the spin of the neutron beam. It will be proved that, even with this contribution, there is enough leeway for a further discussion of the validity of the equivalence principle in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics.

Robert Carroll

Rabinowitz, M

As shown in my previous paper, quantum mechanics (QM) directly violates the weak equivalence principle (WEP) in general, and thus indirectly violates the strong equivalence principle (SEP) in all dimensions. The present paper shows that quantum mechanics also directly violates the SEP unless it is arbitrarily abetted in hindsight. Vital domains are shown to exist in which quantum gravity would be non-applicable. There are classical subtleties in which the SEP appears to be violated, but is not. Neutron free fall interference experiments in a gravitational field are examined, as is Galileo's falling body assertion and the misconception it leads to.