Quantum State-Reduction as a Gravitational Phenomenon; Theory and Experiment

P P Afxenti

Faramarz Rahmani

Anthony James Donnelly

We propose a double-slit photon interference experiment conducted across three gravitational conditions (1g, ~0g, 0.16g) to test whether gravitational field strength modulates wave function collapse behaviour. This proposal does not assume wave function collapse is ontologically real; it tests whether effective collapse behaviour—operationalised as interference fringe visibility and decoherence rate—varies with gravitational context. A secondary experiment introduces information accessibility as a variable, testing whether the causal availability of which-path information affects collapse statistics differently across gravitational conditions. Null results would place strong upper bounds on gravitationally induced collapse models, constraining Penrose-type theories. Positive results would provide the first direct experimental evidence for a gravitational component in quantum state reduction. Keywords: wave function collapse, quantum decoherence, gravity, Penrose objective reduction, measurement problem, double-slit experiment, microgravity

Roger Penrose

Petr Hájíček

A theory of quantum measurement was introduced some time ago that was based on the notion of the so-called separation status. This separation status had a spatial, local character, so that the theory worked only in special cases. Nevertheless, it enabled a description of state reduction process that was specific in where, when and under which objective conditions the process occurs and that preserved the unitary transformation symmetry of quantum mechanics. Now, in an accompanying paper (arxiv:1411.5524), a completely general mathematical definition of the status is given and analyzed. The present paper reformulates the theory of state reduction accordingly. A general mathematical form of the process is postulated and illustrated by examples of Stern-Gerlach experiment and of screening.

Roger Penrose